Four Against Mars

A solitaire/coop atomic age sci-fi pen-and-paper game

Written and illustrated by Andrea Sfiligoi

Proofreading: Arthur Braune Additional illustrations and back cover by Agor2012
Playtest and helpful comments: Samuele Mariotti, Massimo Moscarelli, Erick N.
Bouchard, Victor Jarmusz, Adriano Previti, Diego Chisena

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Questions? Ask on the Four Against Darkness Adventurers Guild Facebook group.
 Contents
Introduction 4 Attack Modifiers 32
What is This Game About 4 Weapon Modifiers 33
Why Four? 4 Weaponless Fighting 33
Length of the Game 4 Unfamiliar Weapons 33
Enemies Never Roll Dice 4 Defense Roll Modifiers 33
Enemy Level and Highest Character Level 5 Who is Attacked? 34
Dice Codes 5 Running Away from Combat 34
Explosive Dice 7 Chases 34
What Die Does My Character Roll? 8 Enemies Chasing Heroes 34
Die Rolls for Experience 8 Heroes Chasing Enemies 35
Adventure, Game, Mission, Session 8 Enemies 36
Rerolls 8 Minor Enemies 36
Creating Your Team 10 Major Enemies 36
Life 11 Fleeing Enemies 37
Insanity 11 Enemy Reactions 37
Traits 11 Character Classes 40
Trait List 12 Combat Specialist 40
Milestones 17 Medic 41
Skills 20 Criminal 42
Psionic Skills 24 Scientist 43
Combat 28 Survivalist 44
Surprise and Initiative 28 Esper 45
Skulking Away 28 Civilian 46
Fighting and Other Actions 29 Equipment 47
Running Away 29 Carrying Weapons 47
Initiative Summary 29 High Tech Equipment 48
Defeat 31 Salvaging Electronic Components 48
Morale Roll 31 Building Experimental Weapons 49
Ambush Bonus 31 List of Tech Items 51
Special Combat Situations 31 Leveling Up 54
Attacking an Enemy 31 Increasing Life with Level 54
Defending 32 Summary of Experience Rules 54
Encumbrance 55 Alien Weapons Table 78
Searching Areas 55 Alien Drugs Table 79
Search Table 55 Vermin Table 80
Patrolling Enemies 56 Minions Table 81
Patrolling Enemies Table 56 Boss Table 82
Subplots 57 Weird Menace Table 83
Clues and Secrets 60 Robots Table 84
Clues and Dying Characters 61 Side Mission Table 85
Saves 62 Rewards Table 86
Let’s Return Home! 62 Alien Experiments Table 87
Splitting the Team 62 Random Alien Tech Table 88
Fallen Heroes 62 Experimental Tech Name Generator 89
Things to Remember 63 Flying Saucer Table 90
The RPG-Lite Option 64 FAQ 92
Generating a Mission 66 Traps Table 94
Area Types - White Areas 66 Search Table 95
Area Types- Gray Areas 67 Patrolling Enemies Table 95
Area Types - Black Areas 68 Combat Initiative Diagram 96
Random Layouts 68 Weapon Summary Table 97
Random Area Type Table 69 Town Map 99
Missions 70 Play Sheet 100
Rescue 70 Enemies Defeated 101
Sabotage 71 Quick Reference Sheet 102
Search and Destroy 71
Scientific Expedition 71
Medical Supplies 71
Day of the Plantoids 72
The Menace of the Replicating Blob 72
Reptilian Gladiators 73
Plan Nine 73
Encounter Table 75
Special Feature Table 76
Special Events Table 77
 Four Against Mars
Introduction
This is an old-school retro science
fiction game that can be played
with just this book, a pencil, two
dice, and paper. You can play it
solo, running four characters by
yourself, or cooperatively, sharing
four characters with friends.
What is This Game About?
You control a team of four heroes
(also called PCs or “player
characters”) fighting off an alien
invasion in a small town, hopefully
trying to discover the aliens’
weaknesses. Aliens have been
conducting all manners of
experiments on terrestrial life
forms, thus creating countless
dangers, from space zombies to
radioactive giant spiders, for your
heroes to fight. The game is set in
your hometown, or -- if you live in
a big city -- in the closest small town
with which you are familiar. You
may use its landmarks, businesses
and notable persons to add details
and color to your own game. The
theme of the game is small town
people vs. aliens from outer space
and their sinister creations.
4
Why Four?
A team of four characters gives
enough variety of abilities to be
interesting with a manageable level
of book-keeping.
Length of the Game
Your first game will take about an
hour and a half. After you
familiarize yourself with the
mechanics, a typical game takes
about 45 minutes. Cooperative
games with multiple players last
longer as players will discuss tactics
and roleplay their characters.
Enemies Never Roll Dice
All the rolls in the game are
performed by your characters
when they try to achieve or avoid
something. When the PCs attack
their enemies, they roll dice and
compare the results with the
enemy’s L (Level) to determine if
enemies are defeated. When the
enemies attack, your PCs try to roll
higher than the enemy’s L,
suffering wounds or other effects
if they fail.
 Four Against Mars
Enemy Level and Highest
Character Level (HCL)
In most cases, enemies have a
static Level (L). This number is used
for both attack and defense. For
example, the typical Martian
trooper is L3. In some cases,
enemies will adapt to your
characters’ Level. The more
powerful your characters are, the
stronger the enemies will be. The
HCL notation means Highest
Character Level. This is a formula
in which you use the L of the
highest Level PC as the base
number.
Example: You encounter a
robot whose L is HCL+1. Your
team includes a L3 Medic, a
L4 Combat Specialist, and two
L2 criminals. Since the highest
Level in the team is 4 (the
Combat Specialist), the
robot’s L is 5 (HCL 4 +1= 5).
In some cases, HCL will have a
minimum or maximum. For
example, an enemy’s L may be equal
to HCL, minimum 4. This means the
foe’s L will be at least 4 even if the
HCL in the team is lower.
5
Dice Codes
The game uses polyhedral dice
ranging from d4 to d20. Dice are
annotated with the letter “d”
followed by the number of sides in
the die. For example, d4 means roll
a four-sided die. Regular six-sided
dice are called d6. Here are all the
most common dice codes:
d4: roll a four-sided die. Useful to
pick one of your characters at
random.
d6: roll a six sided die.
d3: roll a six sided die, counting a
roll of 1 or 2 as 1, a 3 or 4 as a 2, and
a 5 or 6 as a 3.
d8: roll an eight-sided die.
d10: roll a ten-sided die.
d12: roll a twelve-sided die.
d20: roll a twenty-sided die.
d6 +1: roll a six sided die and add 1
to the result.
2d6: roll two six sided dice and add
them, generating a number 2 to 12.
2d8 +1: roll two eight-sided dice,
add them together, and add 1 to
the total, generating a number
from 3 to 17.
d6 x d6: roll two six-sided dice and
multiply the result of one die by the
other, generating a number from 1
to 36.
 Four Against Mars

Grays abduct humans and animals to perform horrible experiments.

6
 Four Against Mars
d6-1: roll one six-sided die and
subtract 1 from the result,
generating a number from 0 to 5.
d6 + L : roll a six-sided die and add
the character’s Level.
d6 + ½ L : roll a die and add half the
character’s Level, rounded down.
d66: roll two dice of different color,
reading one die as “tens” and the
other as “units”, generating a
number from 11 to 66.
d100: roll two d10 and count the
first as tens and second as units,
generating a number from 01 to 00
(that reads as 100). d100 is not
used in this book but may be used
in future publications.
7
Explosive Dice
Whenever characters roll a high
number performing an action, your
die result “explodes”. This means
that you immediately roll
another die of the same type and
add the result of the new die roll
to the total. This is cumulative: for
example, if you roll a 6 on a d6, roll
again and add the result of the
second die to the total. If you roll a
6 again, add it to the total and roll
again... If you are lucky enough, you
could roll ANY number. In combat,
this will let you kill multiple targets
with a lucky blow or inflict multiple
wounds on a large monster.
The number that causes a roll to
“explode” depends on the die used,
as summarized in the table below:
Die Rolled Explodes on
D4 no explosion
D6 6
D8 7, 8
D10 8, 9, 10
D12 9, 10, 11, 12
 Four Against Mars
What Die Does My Character Roll? Die Rolls for Experience
Beginning characters roll d6s. Their
die type increases with their
character Level, as shown in this
table. The type of die a character
uses is called the character’s tier.
Character Level Die Tier
0 d4
1 to 5 d6
6 to 9 d8
10 to 13 d10
14+ d12
A character rolls the same die for
all his or her rolls, no matter
whether he or she is attempting to
outwit, fight or escape from an
encounter, or performing a Save (a
roll to avoid a danger). The die is
not used when rolling on tables
-- in that case, the table header tells
you what die to roll.
Zero Level rolls are normally not
performed, but there are some
instances in which a character may
become zero Level, for example
because the character has been
weakened by a mental power or
radiation.
8
Characters make XP rolls to
determine if they level up or learn
a new Skill. The tier die is used for
XP rolls, with the following
modifiers:
If you use d8, add +2.
If you use d10, add +3.
If you use d12, add +4.
For example, a L6 character
trying to level up rolls d8+2.
Adventure, Game, Mission,
Session
These words mean the same thing:
a game begins when you roll on a
mission table (or when you start
playing a published adventure) and
ends when that mission’s victory
conditions are met.
Rerolls
Sometimes, a rule or special ability
will let a character reroll a die roll.
In all cases, the result of a reroll
is final, even if it is worse than the
previous roll. In other words, you
may never reroll a reroll.
Four Against Mars

9
 Four Against Mars
Creating Your Team
At the beginning of the game, you
have four Level 1 characters, each
belonging to one of the following
classes: Combat Specialist, Medic,
Criminal, Esper, Survivalist,
Civilian or Scientist. Each class has
different abilities.
For example, Scientists are
weak in combat but good at
solving puzzles and inventing
stuff. Combat Specialists are
good fighters but have no
bonus to Science rolls.
A good team should have a mixture
of classes. However, you may also
create four characters of the same
type: a team of university
professors with different
specializations, or crooks running
from the law could both make for
interesting, unusual games.
Normally, you choose your
character classes, but you may also
determine them randomly by
rolling d8 (1= Combat Specialist, 2=
Medic, 3= Criminal, 4= Esper, 5=
Survivalist, 6= Scientist, 7 or 8=
Civilian).
Your PCs can be of any gender. For
brevity we use masculine pronouns
10
thorough the book but no gender
preference is implied. Gender is
sometimes relevant as certain
aliens prefer to kidnap males or
females (Venusians kidnap men,
Martians kidnap women, Zeta-
Reticulans a.k.a. Gray aliens kidnap
everyone).
Use a copy of the sheet at the end
of the book to keep track of your
PCs’ possessions and abilities.
Numbers will change throughout
the game, so use a pencil. You can
download a full page version from
our site and social media.
A character is described by a name,
Level and Class. For example:
Brian Morris, L2 Criminal. Each
character has an Attack bonus (how
powerful he is in combat), a
Defense bonus (how well protected
he is, or how well he parries or
dodges), and a Life value (the
number of wounds or “hit points”
the character can take before
dying). The profile includes spaces
for the character’s Traits,
Milestones, Skills and Equipment.
There is also a space for character’s
Stealth modifier and any Insanity
points he has acquired.
 Four Against Mars
Each character has some starting
equipment. During the game,
characters loot defeated enemies
or find items during their missions.
Life
A character’s Life points total
depends on his Class and Level.
Characters with fighting abilities
have more Life points than more
intellectual characters. Every time
a character levels up, you have the
option to increase his Life points or
learn a new Skill.
When a character’s Life goes to 0,
the character is dead.
All Life points lost are healed
between missions.
Insanity
Insanity is a measure of mental
stress. Encounters with alien
monsters and manifestation of
psionic powers can destroy a
character’s confidence in a rational
universe. Every time the character
goes through a shocking or
stressing event, the character may
gain Insanity points. When a
character has more Insanity points
than his Level, the character loses
the ability to explode dice (see p.7).
The ability to explode dice is
11
reinstated as soon as the Insanity
total is lower than or equal to his
Level.
When a character receives 1
Insanity, you may opt to lose 2 Life
points instead (psychosomatic
trauma, heart attack, high blood
pressure).
Traits
A character may have a random
Trait. Some Traits are positive,
some negative, some affect the
game only marginally, but help
making the character feel like an
individual. Traits are generated at
the beginning of play and may not
be added later, unless some
dramatic event occurs.
You may roll d66 on the Traits list
once per every character, before
the character’s first game. Civilian
characters may have 1 or 2 random
Traits. If you roll the same Trait
twice, reroll until you select a
different one. If you roll two Traits
with conflicting effects, reroll the
second Trait until you get
something that does not conflict
with the first.
A Trait remains in play for the
duration of the campaign.
 Four Against Mars
Traits are OPTIONAL. Do not
feel forced to use them. You
could use them only on one
character, or on two, or none,
as you prefer. They introduce
an element of roleplaying.
You may want your character
to behave in a certain way
because of a Trait the
character possesses, and the
game will be more fun.
Traits List (roll d66)
11) Rage. Impetuous
aggressive, the character uses a
higher tier die for his first attack in
a combat. For example, a character
who would normally use a d8, uses
a d10 instead. This bonus may not
be used if the character was
surprised by an opponent. The
bonus lasts for a single Attack roll,
and only with hand-to-hand
weapons.
12) Scarred. The character has a
nasty, permanent scar that ruins
his looks. The character has -2 on
all Charisma rolls.
13) Unusual looks. The PC has an
unusual hair and skin color or a
similar cosmetic change, like
pointed ears, slit pupils, or scaly
skin. This is probably the result of
an alien experiment and makes
more difficult for the character to
pass unnoticed in a crowd (-2 on
such a Stealth roll).
14) Eyesight problems. The PC has
-1 on all attacks with ranged
weapons.
15) Studious. The PC receives +2
on XP rolls when trying to learn a
new Skill. This bonus does not
apply when trying to level up.
16) An Eye for Detail. The first time
that the character finds 1 Clue
during an adventure, he finds 2
Clues instead.
and
21) Hunted by Martians. At the
end of any adventure, roll d6 for
the character. On a 3+, nothing
happens. On a 1 or 2, the character
is ambushed by d6 Martians (L2
Minions, Morale -1, armed with
hand weapons) and must fight
them single-handedly. The aliens
attack first. The other PCs may not
intervene. Every time, the character
will meet d6 Martians. If the
character is defeated, he will be
captured and may be rescued by
the other PCs with a Rescue
mission.
22) Hunted by Reptilians. At the
end of any adventure, roll d6 for
the character. On a 3+, nothing
happens. On a 1 or 2, the character
is ambushed by d4 Reptilian
12
 Four Against Mars
mercenaries (L3 Minions, normal
Morale, armed with swords and
blasters) and must fight them
single-handedly. The other PCs
may not intervene. If only one is
encountered, he will be a L5 Boss
with 4 Life. If defeated, the
character will be captured and may
be rescued by the other PCs with a
rescue mission.
23) Overweight. The PC is notably
overweight: -1 on all climbing rolls,
-2 on chase rolls, and +1 on
swimming rolls.
24) Drunkard. The character has a
drinking problem. At the beginning
of every adventure, the character
must roll d6. On a 1-3, he manages
to control his drinking habit and
play proceeds as normal. On a 4-6,
he shows up drunk and will be at -1
on all rolls, except on saves vs. fear
or terror, against which he will
enjoy a +2. As soon as the character
is wounded to half his Life points
or lower , adrenaline will kick in and
he will sober up. The PC must roll
again to see if he is drunk at the
beginning of next adventure.
25) Knife Fighter. The PC has a
natural talent for bladed combat
and uses a higher tier die in melee
when fighting with a bladed
weapon. For example, if the PC’s
normal die is a d8, he uses d10
13
instead. The bonus does not apply
when the PC uses any weapon
other than a sword, dagger, or knife.
26) Insanity. Due to childhood
trauma or alien abduction, the PC
begins the game with 1 Insanity
point. No matter which game
effects are used to reduce the
character’s Insanity score, he or she
will never have less than 1 Insanity.
31) Versatile. The PC may learn a
single Skill that is normally not
allowed to his class. A Civilian who
rolls Versatile twice may learn 2
Skills not normally allowed to his
class.
32) Lecherous. The PC has a strong
interest in romantic encounters. As
soon as the chance arises, the PC
should insert a romantic Subplot
into the game.
33) Charisma. The PC has +1 to all
Charisma rolls.
34) Abducted. The PC was
abducted by aliens when he was a
child, and spent a number of years
(choose a number 1 to 4) in their
custody until he managed to
escape with some stolen alien tech.
Roll one d6 per every year spent
with them. For any 6 rolled, the
character gains 1 roll on the Traits
List (reroll Abducted) OR 1 random
piece of alien tech, your choice.
Four Against Mars

14
 Four Against Mars
35) Intuition. Roll a d6 when the
PC finds a Clue. On a 5 or 6, he finds
2 Clues instead. You may
successfully use this ability only
once per game.
36) Strong: The PC has +1 on all
rolls to bash down doors, lift
weights, and perform other feats
of physical strength.
41) Mechanical Knack. The PC
uses a higher tier die on all rolls to
disarm or avoid traps, or to repair
damaged machinery or weapons.
For example, if the PC would
normally use a d8, the PC uses a
d10 instead.
42) Incredible Vitality. At L1, the
PC gets 1 permanent, additional
Life point.
43) Lucky. Once per adventure, the
PC may reroll any failed die roll.
44) Good Aim. The PC has +1 to
Attack rolls with ranged weapons.
45) Fast Learner. The PC gets +1 to
XP rolls when trying to level up, but
not when trying to learn new Skills.
46) Fast Reflexes. The PC has +1 to
Defense rolls.
51) Mentally Stable. The PC’s Level
counts as 2 higher for purposes of
Insanity.
52) Stealthy. The character has +1
on Stealth rolls.
15
53) Defender. If an NPC is
accompanying the team and the
team is involved in a violent
encounter, the PC may take on
himself all the damage inflicted
upon the NPC. The PC does not
perform a Defense roll against that
damage. He just takes on himself
the damage inflicted upon the NPC.
54) Bonded. Choose randomly a
character in the team. The PC has
a special relationship (love, deep
friendship, admiration) with that
character. If that character dies, the
PC gains 1 Insanity and +1 on Attack
rolls vs. the enemy that killed the
character. The bonus lasts until the
enemy is killed (if the enemy
escapes, the Bonded character
must try to pursue him). After the
death of the special character, the
bonded character will lose the
Bonded Trait if he manages to go
back to 0 Insanity points.
Otherwise, he will be brooding and
uncooperative (-1 on all Charisma
rolls).
55) Gadgeteer. Once per game, the
PC may automatically turn a piece
of alien tech into 1 electronic
component. No Science roll is
required.
56) Hard to Kill. If the PC plays the
Left for Dead Subplot, reroll a result
of 1 or 2 until you get a different
result.
 Four Against Mars

61) It’s Only a Flesh Wound. Once 66) Genius. Once per game, the
per game, the PC may ignore the character may perform ONE of the
damage from a single attack or following actions: 1) automatically
cause, no matter if that attack pass a Science roll; 2) automatically
inflicted 1 or more points of generate 1 Clue after a victorious
damage. combat encounter or after finding
62) Hunter. The character has +2 a piece of alien technology; 3)
on Chase rolls. When shooting at a automatically pass a Save vs. a
fleeing enemy, he has a +2, not +1, psionic/mental attack. The ability
bonus on his Attack roll with a resets at the end of the game. The
ranged weapon. automatic successes on Science
rolls or Saves must be declared
63) Resilient. The character’s INSTEAD OF rolling the die (you
maximum Life is increased by 1. may not roll the die and then
The character does not receive an choose to use the automatic
extra Life point. It is just the level success if you roll a failure).
cap that is increased by 1. The
character will still have to increase
his Life by levelling.
64) Unlucky. The PC has rotten
luck. The fist time that a game
effect affects a random character,
it affects the unlucky
character instead. If that
attack or danger requires a
Save or a Defense roll, the
character rolls at -1. If there
are two or more Unlucky
characters, randomly
determine who is affected.
65) Ailing. The character has
1 Life less than normal for his
class and Level.

16
 Four Against Mars
Milestones
Milestones are optional short term
goals assigned to PCs. Once a
Milestone is completed, that PC
gains a benefit.
At the beginning of play, you may
choose a different Milestone for
each PC. Once a Milestone is
completed, you may choose
another for that PC. You may not
take the same Milestone twice with
the same PC, unless the description
of the Milestone explicitly says so.
Most Milestones are based on
keeping track of some personal
success on the character’s part,
such as slaying a number of
enemies of a given type. Keep track
of these on the play sheet. Only the
Minions slain by the character and
the bosses whose LAST Life point is
taken by the character count for
purposes of this Milestone.
Milestones are optional. If you
feel like they add too much
book-keeping to the game,
skip them. You may always
add them later.
17
Slayer of Martians: Kill 20
Martians to gain a permanent +1
on all Attack and Defense rolls vs.
Martians.
Slayer of Venusians: Kill 10
Venusians to gain a permanent +1
on all Attacks vs. Venusians and +1
on saves vs. their mental powers.
Slayer of Reptilians: Kill 20
Reptilians to gain the ability to
ignore the Reptilians’ armor effect.
Slayer of Grays: Kill 10 Zeta-
Reticulans/Grays to gain a +1 to
Attack and Defense rolls vs. Grays.
Robot Fighter: Kill 10 robots to
gain a permanent +1 on all Attack
and Defense rolls vs. robots.
Zombie Hunter: Kill 20 zombies to
gain the ability to automatically kill
a zombie every time you encounter
them. You may take this Milestone
multiple times: the number of
zombies you kill automatically
increases by 1 every time you
complete the Milestone.
Master Gadgeteer: Build 5
experimental weapons to gain a
permanent +2 to all Science rolls to
build experimental weapons.
Polymath: Learn 6 Skills to gain 1
free additional Skill of your choice,
chosen from those available to
your character class.
 Four Against Mars
Conspiracy Theorist: Learn 3
secrets (9 Clues total) to gain 3
additional Clues.
Area Knowledge: Visit all the areas
of a town (write down the numbers
visited on your Milestone) to gain
the ability to reroll all the
encounters and events in that
town. You may take this Milestone
again when you move to a different
town.
Starfighter: Pilot a flying saucer
and use it to destroy another flying
saucer, giant monster or giant
robot to gain a permanent +2 on all
piloting, Attack, and Defense rolls
on a flying saucer.
Alien Technology Expert: Collect
10 different pieces of alien tech to
gain a permanent +2 on all Science
rolls to operate or repair alien tech.
Giant Creature Killer: Slay two
giant creatures (atomic monsters
or giant robots) to gain the ability
to automatically inflict 4 wounds to
the next giant monster or giant
robot you encounter. Using this
ability does not require a successful
Attack roll but you must be in the
same area as the monster and use
one of your actions to use this
ability.
Mind Barrier: Successfully Save vs.
10 mental attacks from psionics to
gain a permanent +3 on such Saves.
18
Swordfighter: Successfully inflict
50 wounds in combat using a two-
handed slashing weapon to gain a
permanent +2 when attacking with
it. You must have familiarity with
that weapon to take this Milestone.
Each slain Minion counts as 1
wound inflicted. Vermin enemies
do not count for this Milestone.
Duelist: Defeat 3 bosses or weird
menaces single-handedly to gain a
permanent +1 on all Attack rolls
when you fight alone. If your
friends leave the combat
engagement or hide while you are
fighting and you win the fight, that
counts as a successful single-
handed victory.
The Truth is Out There: Collect 10
Clues and spend them to learn the
secret weakness of one of the alien
races in the game. All the team
members including the PC who
collected the Clues permanently
gain a +1 to Attack rolls against all
members of that alien race.
Hero: Rescue 3 civilians to gain a
reroll on any die roll performed by
the character. The reroll is a
permanent ability that may be used
once per adventure.
Four Against Mars

19
 Four Against Mars
Skills
A PC may learn a new Skill with a
successful XP roll. The Skill must be
listed under their class description.
The PC may use the newly acquired
Skill immediately. It doesn’t mean
that the ability pops up all of a
sudden in the PC’s mind. The PC
was studying or practicing the Skill
for some time and now feels ready
to use it.
Accuracy: Once per encounter, the
PC may reroll 1 Attack roll with a
ranged weapon.
Acrobatics: The PC may reroll any
climbing roll, and any other Save
described as based on agility or
20
dexterity. In addition, if the
character falls from a height,
reduce the damage suffered by 1.
Additional Weapon Familiarity:
The PC learns to use a different
weapon and removes the -1
modifier that normally applies
when using unfamiliar weapons.
You must specify the name of the
weapon when the Skill is taken, for
example Additional Weapon
Familiarity: Assault Rifle. This Skill
may be taken as many times as
needed, every time for a different
weapon. Combat Specialists
automatically have this Skill with all
weapons. Scientists have this for all
experimental weapons.
 Four Against Mars

Chemistry: The character gets +2 of surprising the team, has a 1 in 6

on Science rolls related to gases,
acids, toxins, and chemical analysis.
Danger Sense: If a character with
Danger Sense is in the team,
opponents trying to surprise the
team reduce their chance of
surprise by 1. For example, an
encounter that has a 2 in 6 chance
chance instead. The effect of
multiple characters with Danger
Sense is cumulative and may
reduce the chance of surprise to
zero.
Deadly Shot: The PC may use a
Deadly Shot once per adventure,
per Level. For example, a L5

Zeta-reticulan
experiments on
Earth amoebas and
alien monocellular
creatures have
created a variety of
“blobs” that move
around, trying to
swallow living
creatures to
increase their own
body mass. When
their body mass
reaches a certain
stage, they will split
into two or more
“child” creatures.

21
 Four Against Mars
character may use 5 Deadly Shots
per mission. If the PC hits a Major
Enemy with a Deadly Shot, that
attack inflicts 1 more damage than
normal. Deadly Shot may be used
only with ranged weapons.
Demolitions: The character can
use explosives.
Detective: When Searching an
area, the character may reroll the
die.
Diplomacy: A team including a
character with this Skill may roll all
Reaction rolls twice and pick the
best result. The team may benefit
only from one character with
Diplomacy at any given time.
Dodge: The PC gets +1 on Defense
rolls.
Double Attack: The PC may
perform two attacks with melee
weapons every turn. The PC can
attack twice with the same melee
weapon or once per melee weapon
if wielding two weapons (one in
each hand).
Draw Attacks: Once per
encounter, you may decide that
any number of attacks from
enemies are all performed against
the PC with this Skill. This may
sound suicidal but it may be used
to avoid losing characters with
fewer Life points. The PC with this
22
Skill rolls to defend normally
against those attacks. This ability
works also against attacks that are
normally aimed at random targets.
Electronics: The PC gets a +2 on
Science rolls when trying to modify
or repair electronic equipment
including any sensors, scanners,
radio equipment, electrical
equipment, or communicators.
This bonus also applies when trying
to rewire or repair electronic brains
and robots, or to disarm electronic
traps.
Entomology: The character gets +1
on Attack and Defense rolls vs.
insects and arachnids, including
swarms and giant/mutant versions
but not against robotic versions. In
other words, a giant spider-shaped
robot counts as a robot, not as a
spider. The PC gets +3 on any
Science roll performed to build an
experimental weapon against
insects and arachnids.
Extra Vitality: The character has
TWO Life points more than normal.
Fast Draw: The character may
exchange weapons in hand without
spending one action to do so.
Readying a grenade for throwing
still requires 1 turn.
First Aid: The PC may heal 1 wound
on a single character after each
 Four Against Mars
encounter. This is NOT cumulative
with any wounds healed by a Medic.
Grenade Chucker: The PC always
inflicts a minimum of 2 points of
damage (2 minor enemies killed,
minimum) when throwing a
grenade. Roll normally for the
grenade’s Attack rolls and if that
doesn’t inflict at least 2 wounds,
apply the minimum.
Keen Eyes: The PC counts any 4
rolled on a Search roll as a 5.
Knife Throwing: A PC armed with
a knife or dagger may throw it as a
light ranged weapon. The Attack
roll is at -1, +2 against an enemy
who is running away (this +2
includes the -1 modifier). The
weapon is considered lost if the
character runs from that
encounter, but a character may
pick up another knife by visiting any
hardware store or home.
Learn from Experience: Once per
game, the PC may enjoy a +1 on a
single XP roll.
Leadership: When a character with
Leadership is in the team, the other
characters get a +1 to all Saves vs.
fear and terror. Multiple bonuses
from Leadership do NOT stack.
Martial Arts: The PC’s unarmed
attacks count as Light weapons (-1
modifier, not -2 as usual for
23
unarmed attacks). This Skill does
not modify weapon attacks.
Performer: The PC can sing, dance
or knows any other performance
Skill that can lift the spirits of
others. The PC gets +1 on all
Charisma rolls and may, once per
game, remove 1 Insanity point from
another character while
performing in a non-combat
situation.
Pest Control: The PC gains +2 on
Attack rolls vs. Vermin.
Predict Tactics: Whenever the PC
is fighting with a Major Enemy, the
PC may spend a single Clue to gain
+1 on all Defense rolls vs. that
specific enemy until the end of the
encounter. The character may use
this Skill only once per encounter.
Psychology: The PC may, once per
Level per adventure, perform a
Science roll vs. a Level equal to the
Insanity point of any friendly
character +1. If the roll fails, nothing
happens. If the roll succeeds, lower
that character’s Insanity by 1.
Quick Footed: The PC has +2 on
Chase rolls, both when running
away or pursuing a fleeing enemy.
Rapid Fire: The PC may perform 2
attacks every turn with automatic
or laser weapons.
 Four Against Mars
Saboteur: The PC adds +2 on all
sabotage rolls.
Skewer: Whenever the PC’s melee
Attack wounds a living opponent
with more than 1 Life points, it
inflicts 2 damage, not 1. This ability
does not work against vehicles,
robots or objects. It does work
against creatures like weird
menaces, unless they are classed
as robots.
Slippery: When an alien tries to
abduct the PC, the PC has a +2 on
all saves rolled to avoid capture.
Spot Weakness: Whenever the PC
is fighting with a major enemy (any
foe with more than 1 Life), the PC
may spend a single Clue to gain a
+1 on all Attack rolls vs. that specific
enemy until the end of the
encounter. The PC may use this
Skill only once per encounter.
Stab: Whenever the PC performs a
melee Attack with an ambush
bonus, the PC may roll the Attack
die twice and pick the best result.
Stealth: The PC has +2 to Stealth
rolls.
Terror Tactics: When an opponent
is forced to perform a Morale roll,
the roll is at -1, in addition to any
other modifiers the creature may
have. This effect is NOT cumulative:
if you have this Skill with more than
24
one PC the modifiers does not
stack.
Tough: The PC gains +1 on all Saves
vs. poison, gases, stunning or
paralyzing weapons.
Psionic Skills
Psionic Skills may be taken only by
characters of the Esper class.
Learning these Skills requires an XP
roll just like normal Skills, but only
an Esper may do so.
Most of these Skills require a Psi roll
against the target’s Level to work.
To perform a Psi roll, add the
Esper’s Level to a roll of his/her tier
die.
Circadian Rhythm Manipulation:
Once per game, the Esper may
make d6 minor enemies, or 1 major
enemy, fall asleep with a successful
Psi roll against their Level. Only one
roll is needed against a group of
minor foes. If the roll fails, nothing
happens. Sleeping creatures may
be automatically killed if desired, or
captured alive and all their loot
taken. Robots, blobs, zombies,
plants, insects, spiders, energy
creatures, and creatures without a
nervous system may not be
affected.
 Four Against Mars
Electrokinesis: The Esper controls
the electrons in the air and uses
them to control electricity. Once
per game, the Esper may spend
one action to do one of the
following:
1) Throw a lightning bolt from his
hands. This counts as a ranged
attack that hits with a bonus
equal to the Esper’s Level, and
and additional +2 against
robots, spaceships, and flying
saucers.
2) Absorb electricity from an
energy being, automatically
inflicting 4 wounds on such a
creature.
3) Defend at +2 against electrical
weapons for the duration of a
whole encounter. This version
of the ability does NOT require
the expenditure of an action.
The bonus is simply applied to
the character’s Defense rolls.
Karma Control: Roll three dice for
the Esper before the beginning of
the game, using the Esper’s tier die,
and write them down on your play
sheet. During the game, the Esper
may use one of those rolled results
in lieu of rolling a die. You must
decide to use one of the “pre-
rolled” results BEFORE rolling the
die.
25
Mental Blast: This ability lets the
user attack living organisms with a
telepathic blast that inflicts 1
damage. The blast works only on
living creatures with a complex
nervous system. It cannot affect
zombies, blobs, androids, or
robots. It can affects plants only if
the Esper also posseses the Plant
Communication Skill. Mental Blast
ignores any armor effect (all those
abilities that allow the target to
ignore damage). The ability may be
used at will and it works as a
ranged attack for all other
purposes. It may be used as a
ranged attack against a fleeing
enemy.
Mind Reading: The Esper may,
once per game, perform a Psi roll
against any living boss (not robots,
plants, zombies, and blobs, but
including energy creatures). This
may be performed in combat (the
Esper forfeits his combat action to
do so) or during a peaceful
encounter. If the roll fails, nothing
happens. If the roll succeeds, the
Esper gains 2 Clues or triggers a
Subplot.
Plant Communication: The Esper
with this Skill may use Circadian
Rhythm Manipulation and Mental
Blast on plants. In addition, once
per game, the Esper may get an
 Four Against Mars
automatic “Ignore” Reaction from
plant enemies.
Precognition: Once per game, the
Esper may alter the result of a roll
on the encounters table. The result
may be altered by a number of
points equal to the Esper’s Level.
For example, if you roll a 8, a 3rd
Level Esper may pick any number
from 5 to 11. If you prefer, instead
of altering the roll, you may reroll
it, but in that case you may not use
any other ability that grants rerolls.
Probability Manipulation: Once
per game, the Esper may use
probability manipulation for the
duration of an encounter. During
that encounter, the team may reroll
a number of dice equal to the
Esper’s Level. Rerolls may be used
on any rolls that happen during
that encounter, including attack
and Defense rolls or rolls that
activate special abilities. This ability
may also be used to affect the
other characters’ rolls.
Psionic Charge: Once per game,
the Esper may surround a melee
weapon with a razor-sharp
telekinetic field. The weapon strikes
at +2 on Attack rolls for the
duration of an encounter. Using
this ability is an instantaneous free
action. The psionic may use this
26
power on a weapon wielded by
himself or by another character.
Telekinesis: Once per encounter,
the PC may use Telekinesis to
automatically evade the encounter
(he lifts himself OR another
character, not both, levitating out
of danger -- treat as a successful
evasion with no Chase possible) or
to force the opponent to skip a turn
in combat (this requires a
successful Psi roll vs. the foe’s L).
The Esper may also use Telekinesis
to prevent himself or a friend from
being abducted by an abducto-ray
or (again, with a successful Psi roll
against the target’s L) to disarm an
opponent so that the weapon flies
from the target’s hand and into the
Esper’s hands. The Esper must have
one empty hand to grab the
weapon, or may choose to drop
whatever object he is currently
holding as a free action and grab
the telekinetically snatched
weapon. Disarming an enemy
lowers its L by 2 for attack purposes
(for example, a disarmed L5 enemy
counts as L3 when it attacks, so
Defense rolls against it succeed on
a 4+ instead than on a 6+).
Telekinetic Bubble: This ability
works like the telekinetic shield, but
it may be used on another
character. An Esper may learn this
 Four Against Mars

Skill ONLY IF he already knows the used at will. The shield is perfectly
Telekinetic Shield Skill. The Bubble transparent and does not offer
will go down if the Esper is hit or concealment of any kind. The
affected by psionics, not if the Telekinetic Shield may not be used
wearer of the Bubble himself is hit at the same time a wearable
or affected by psionics. forcefield or wrist-mounted
The telekinetic bubble is not forceshield generator is used.
compatible with a wearable
forcefield or a wrist-mounted
forceshield generator.
Telekinetic Crush: Once per game,
the PC may perform a ranged
attack that ignores armor (all those
abilities that allow the target to
ignore damage) and inflicts 2
damage upon a target. Using this
ability requires a successful Psi
roll against the target’s L. If the
Esper rolls multiple times over
the target’s L, add 1 damage
(not 2) for each time he
surpasses the target’s L.
Telekinetic Shield: During
an encounter, the Esper
spends 1 action to set up a
telekinetic shield around his
body. For the duration of that
encounter, the Esper’s Defense
rolls are at +2 UNTIL the Esper is hit
or affected by any psionic effect. If
the Esper is hit, the pain will tear
down the telekinetic field and the
shield will vanish. The Esper may
still spend 1 action to set up the
shield again later. This Skill may be

27
 Four Against Mars
Combat
You will often encounter enemies
and have to fight them. This section
describes the procedure for
combat.
Surprise and Initiative
When you encounter a potential
enemy, two situations may occur:
1) The enemies ambush your
team. They go first. Roll for their
Reaction to determine what they
do. If an enemy has a chance to
surprise your team, its description
will say so, generally as a X in 6
chance of it happening (such as,
“Martian scouts have a 2 in 6
chance of surprising your team”).
Roll d6 and determine if they
ambush your team. 2 in 6 means
that if the die rolls a 1 or a 2, they
surprise you; if you roll a 3, 4, 5 or
6, they do not.
If any of your characters have the
Danger Sense Skill, the chance of
surprise is reduced by 1 for each PC
with Danger Sense, so a 2 in 6
chance becomes a 1 in 6, and a 1 in
6 chance becomes no chance of
surprise.
2) If the enemies don’t surprise
your team, your characters may
perform a Stealth roll vs. the
28
enemy’s L. Those succeeding the
Stealth roll may attack with an
ambush bonus (+1 to Attack rolls,
+L for criminals) or skulk away
unnoticed (see below). Those who
fail the Stealth roll are spotted by
the enemy and must either attack
immediately or wait for the
enemy’s Reaction if the other PCs
haven’t attacked the enemy.
Rolling for Stealth is an
option. You may always
decide that all your team will
fight or wait for the enemy’s
Reaction. If you don’t wait
and aren’t surprised, you can
attack first.
Skulking Away
A character passing a Stealth roll
may skulk away unnoticed,
effectively avoiding the encounter.
Those doing so do not gain any XP
rolls or loot from that encounter.
Skulking away means that the
characters are still in the same area
but slowly move away from the
encounter. If some PCs skulk away
and other remain to fight, the one
who skulked away may rejoin the
fight later (but they will lose one
 Four Against Mars
turn doing so) or rejoin their
comrades at the end of the combat.
Fighting and Other Actions
Once combat begins, the two sides
simply alternate attacking until one
side is defeated or decides to run
away. Performing an attack takes
the whole turn. Characters may
perform other actions during a turn
(give first aid, run away, ready a
grenade, throw a grenade, use a
psionic power, change weapon,
pick up a dropped weapon or an
object from the ground, use a drug,
or any other action described in the
rules), but they forfeit their attack
when doing so. If an action is
described as a FREE or
instantaneous action, however, the
PC may perform it for free (the
character does NOT lose his chance
to attack that turn).
Running Away
You may decide to run away at any
moment, including at the beginning
of a combat (on your turn). If the
enemies want to capture you, or
are fighting to the death, they will
chase you (see Chases). When you
run away from a fight, you run to
any adjacent area on the town
map, but you will roll at +1 on the
encounter and event roll. Running
29
humans tend to attract the alien
invaders’ attention! If you are
running to your Safe House, there
is a 2 in 6 chance that your Safe
House will now be compromised.
This simply means that, from now
on in the campaign, that area is no
longer counted as a Safe House,
and you must roll for events and
encounters when you enter it.
Initiative Summary
When an encounter happens, do
the following in order:
1) If the enemy has a X in chance of
surprising you, roll d6 to determine
if they do so. This is a single roll for
the whole team.
2) If the enemy does not surprise
your team, all of your characters
may perform a Stealth roll to
determine if they manage to go
unnoticed. PCs who succeed may
skulk away unnoticed (ignore the
encounter) or attack the enemy
with an ambush bonus (+1 for
everyone, +L for criminals).
3) You may go first, or wait and
determine what the enemy will do
by performing a Reaction roll. Each
enemy listing has a Reactions table
in its description. A Reaction roll
means rolling d6 on the table and
applying the result. Enemies may
 Four Against Mars
ignore or even help you in some
cases, so it may be a wise choice to
roll for Reactions. Certain enemies
always attack. If you choose to roll
for Reactions and the Reaction
causes the enemies to attack,
the enemies go first.
4) The two sides will alternate
attacking each other, until one side
is defeated.
5) You may decide to run away at
any moment, using the rules for
chases. The enemies may decide to
run away, using the Morale rules.
An Example of Surprise and
Initiative: Your team (a L5
Scientist, two L3 combat
specialists, and a L3
Survivalist) encounters a
group of Martian scouts.
Martian scouts have a 2 in 6
chance of surprising you, but
that is reduced to a 1 in 6
chance because the
Survivalist has Danger Sense.
The player rolls d6 and rolls
a 3, so the scouts do not
surprise the team. A single roll
is performed for the whole
group. At this point, everyone
in the team makes a Stealth
roll vs. the Martian scouts’
Level. Martian Scouts are L3,
but they get a +2 scouting
30
bonus, so to succeed the
Stealth roll must be a 5+. All
heroes perform their Stealth
roll individually. The two
Combat Specialists and the
Scientist fail, but the
Survivalist passes the Stealth
roll. He has the option to
skulk away or fight with an
ambush bonus. The player
decides that the Survivalist
(and the team) will fight. The
team attacks first. They open
fire. The Survivalist shoots at
+1 (ambush bonus) with his
shotgun, killing 2 aliens. Then
the other characters open
fire, killing 1 more alien, thus
causing the remaining 2
aliens to perform a Morale
roll on a d6. The Morale roll
is a 1, so the two remaining
Martians turn heels and
scamper through the woods.
The player decides not to
chase them. The characters
loot the aliens’ bodies and
pick up their blasters and
some unknown pieces of tech
that their Scientist will later
identify.
 Four Against Mars
Defeat
You lose the game if all of your
characters are paralyzed, knocked
out, captured, or killed.
You defeat the enemy if all the
creatures in the encounter are
paralyzed, knocked out, killed, or
run away because of a Morale roll.
Morale Roll
Whenever a group of minor
enemies (Vermin or Minions) loses
more than half its initial number (for
example, a group of 5 Martians
reduced to 2), or whenever a major
enemy (a creature with multiple Life
points) loses more than half its Life
points, you immediately roll d6 for
the enemy’s Morale. On a 1 to 3,
they run away, and you may decide
to Chase them (perform a Chase
roll) or let them run. On a 4 to 6,
they continue to fight until the bitter
end. Some creatures may have a -1
or a +1 modifier to this Morale roll,
based on how courageous or
disciplined they are. Creatures that
have a Fight to Death Reaction
never test Morale: they always fight
to the bitter end, and they always
try to chase your team if you run
away.
31
Ambush Bonus
If a character fights with an ambush
bonus, his first attack is at +1, or +L
if he is a Criminal. The ambush
bonus applies only on the first
attack or, if the PC can perform two
attacks thanks to a special Skill, to
the PC’s first two attacks.
Special Combat Conditions
Special conditions may make
certain actions more difficult or
impossible.
For example, an encounter
with limited visibility due to
fog will give a -1 modifier to
ranged weapons.
Attacking an Enemy
Each enemy, obstacle or danger
encountered has a Level, a
measure of how dangerous it is. In
the case of enemies, the Level is the
number you must roll to wound the
enemy with a hand-to-hand or
ranged attack. The same mechanic
is used to affect an enemy with any
other game effect (outwitting,
psionic combat, etc.) but different
modifiers may apply to different
actions.
 Four Against Mars
Example: A typical Martian is
L3, so you need to roll a 3 or
better to hit him.
When an attack goes multiple times
over the enemy’s Level, the attack
inflicts multiple wounds. This
means that a powerful attack (like
a burst from an automatic weapon)
may kill more than 1 Minion or
inflict more than 1 point of damage
on a target with multiple Life points.
Example: A L4 Combat
Specialist opens fire with an
assault rifle on a group of L3
Martian scouts. The player
rolls a 4, +1 for the rifle’s
attack modifier, +4 for the
Combat Specialist’s Level
modifier, for a total of 4 +1
+4= 9. Each full 3 points kill
one L3 Martian, so the attack
kills a total of 3 Martians.
Attack rolls may Explode, so an
attack may potentially roll ANY
number (as the explosion results
are added to the die roll). It is
theoretically possible for a puny
human to kill a giant atomic
monster with a single shotgun shot,
but that will require a huge amount
of luck.
Remember that rolling an
explosion is an automatic
success. If you are fighting a Level
32
13 monster and roll a 6 on your d6
roll, you hit that monster.
Defending
Defending from a foe in melee or
in ranged combat requires rolling
OVER that foe’s Level. Defense is
harder than offense.
Example: A L3 Martian shoots
at your character. You must
roll 4+ to dodge his shot.
Light armor, high-tech armor, and
forcefields give bonuses to Defense
rolls. However, a roll of 1 is
always a failure and always
means that the character has
been hit.
Attack Modifiers
An attack on an enemy is
performed by rolling your tier die
and adding any attack bonus due
to the PC’s class, Skills, and weapon
used.
● Combat specialists always add
+L to the roll.
● Criminals add +L only when
ambushing the enemy.
● Espers add +L only when using
psionic Skills.
● Survivors add +L only when
using hand-to-hand weapons.
 Four Against Mars
● Civilians never add their Level
to Attack rolls.
● Scientists add +L when using a
high tech experimental weapon
or a gadget that exploits a foe’s
weakness. This gives you a
chance to defeat an atomic
monster or some nearly
indestructible robot that the
rest of the team may find
almost impossible to dent.
Weapon Modifiers
Weapon are described by tag
words (two-handed, melee, light,
electric, sonic, laser). The tag word
may have some game effect. For
example, electric weapons have a
bonus against robots.
The Attack roll is modified by the
weapon type.
A two-handed melee weapon (e.g.
a samurai sword) adds +1.
A light weapon (club, hammer,
knife, dagger) subtracts 1.
Some weapons have bonuses
against specific enemies, e.g.
electric weapons hit robots at +2.
Sonic weapons hit crystalline
lifeforms at +2.
For a summary of all weapon
effects and modifiers, see the
33
Weapon Summary table in the
appendix.
Unarmed Attacks
An unarmed character may still
attack at -2 or at -1 with the Martial
Arts Skill. A character may always
use 1 action to pick up a weapon
from a slain foe.
Unfamiliar Weapons
A PC using a weapon not listed on
his play sheet does so at -1. A PC
may use 1 XP roll to gain the
Additional Weapon Familiarity Skill,
thus removing the modifier.
Combat specialists ignore the
unfamiliar weapon modifier so
they do not need this Skill -- they
have familiarity with all weapons.
Defense Roll Modifiers
● Light armor +1
● Alien Armor +2
● Forcefield +2
● Criminal: +1/2 Level
● Dodge Skill +1
● Telekinetic Shield +2
Certain attacks negate the bonus
from armor or forcefields.
Defense Roll Success: If the
character rolls higher than the
 Four Against Mars
enemy’s L or rolls any result that
grants an explosion on the die, the
character takes no damage from
the attack.
Defense Roll Failure: if the
Defense roll is equal to or lower
than the enemy’s L or if the
character rolls a natural
(unmodified) 1, the character takes
ONE wound. Mark 1 Life off the
character’s profile. Some powerful
enemies inflict 2 or more damage
points on a successful hit, as
explained in their description. If no
damage number is mentioned, the
attack inflicts 1 damage.
Who is Attacked?
Which PC is attacked depends on
the number of enemies.
In an encounter with fewer
enemies than characters: Each
enemy MUST attack a different PC.
If there are not enough enemies to
attack all of the characters, you
decide which character is not
attacked.
In an encounter with as many
enemies as there are characters:
Each character receives 1 attack.
In an encounter with more
enemies than characters: Each
character receives an equal
number of attacks, and you decide
34
who receives any outstanding extra
attacks.
Running Away From Combat
Sometimes, you might want to run
away from an overwhelming
opposition. As the team does so,
each enemy will attack once. Each
character must make a Defense roll.
If a character is killed while running
away, his equipment is considered
lost and may not be redistributed
to the other members of the team.
Sometimes, enemy will run away
from a combat, due to a failed
Morale roll or some other game
effect. When this happens, each
character may perform one attack
at +1 at a fleeing enemy, or decide
to chase them (perform a Chase
roll).
Chases
Enemies Chasing Heroes
When your team runs from a
combat and the enemies chase
them, choose a neighboring area.
Your team is trying to escape into
that area. Each PC should make a
Stealth roll against the enemy’s
Level. The rolls are at -2 if the
opponents are on a flying saucer.
 Four Against Mars

The rolls are also modified by the captive character, or possess some
area Stealth modifier, if any. If the interesting loot that the PCs want.
characters are running into an area The PCs must perform a Chase roll,
of dense woods, for example, it will rolling their tier die vs. the enemy’s
be easier for them to lose their L. If at least one character manages
chasers. Characters with the Quick to catch up with the enemies, the
Footed Skill roll at +2. enemies will stop and fight. PCs
PCs who pass the roll are separated who fail the Chase roll will enter the
from the rest of the team and combat 1 turn later. If all chasing
manage to flee to safety, but must PCs fail their roll, the enemies
roll for an encounter as normal for manage to escape to safety.
the new area into which they PCs may not chase enemies flying
moved. away in a vehicle unless they have
PCs who fail the test must fight the same vehicle or a faster one.
again against the opponents and
the opponents get to attack first. At
the end of the combat, if the heroes
win, any survivors will
automatically join the rest of the
group. If the PCs lose, any surviving
enemies will try to catch up with the
fugitives, and the fugitives must roll
for Stealth again, at +1. Repeat the
process until all the characters
manage to escape, all enemies are
defeated (if they run due to a failed
Morale roll they will obviously give
up chase), or all heroes are
dead/captured.

Heroes Chasing Enemies

In some cases, the PCs will want to
chase fleeing enemies, for example
when enemies run away with a

35
 Four Against Mars
Enemies
Enemies belong to two groups:
Minor (from the Minions and
Vermin tables) and Major (from the
Weird Menace, Robot, and Boss
tables).
Minor Enemies
Minor Enemies are encountered
in large numbers. They are classed
as Minions or Vermin. They work in
the same way, the only difference
being that Vermin do not give any
XP rolls, while Minions give 1 XP roll
per every 10 Minion ENCOUNTERS
your team defeats.
Vermin are less dangerous, and
give no XP. They can still be deadly
in large numbers.
Minor enemies have 1 Life each.
Every successful attack kills one or
more of them.
When an attack goes multiple
times over a minor enemy’s
Level, more than one minor
enemy is killed by that attack.
For example, if you roll a total
of 8 against a group of L3
Minions, you kill 2 Minions:
the first 3 points in the attack
kill 1 L3 Minion, the second 3
points kill another L3 Minion.
The remaining 2 points are
36
wasted since they are not
enough to kill another Minion.
When a group of minor enemies
loses more than half its initial
number, the remaining minor
enemies must make a Morale
roll. Roll a single d6 for the whole
group. On a 1-3, the remaining
enemies flee. On a 4+, the enemies
continue to fight. You perform one
Morale roll per encounter, unless
the enemy’s profile says otherwise.
Courageous or cowardly enemies
may have a +1 or -1 modifier to
their Morale roll. Some enemies
never roll Morale. This is indicated
in their profile. Enemies who roll a
Fight to the death Reaction do not
test Morale.
Major Enemies
Major enemies include Bosses,
Weird menaces and any enemy
with 2 or more Life points.
Some major enemies perform
more than one attack per turn.
Every successful hit on a major
enemy depletes 1 of their Life
points (or more, in the case of
powerful weapons). When an
attack goes multiple times over the
enemy’s Level, the attack delivers
more than one wound.
 Four Against Mars
For example, if you roll a total
of 9 against a L4 boss, it loses
2 Life. The first 4 points in the
attack inflict 1 Life and the
second 4 points inflict
another Life. The remaining
point is wasted because it is
not enough to inflict another
Life.
If the weapon or attack form used
inflicts more than 1 point of
damage on a successful hit, every
time you go over the target’s Level
you that amount of damage again.
For example, if you hit a L5
robot with a weapon that
inflicts 2 damage and your
total Attack roll is 10, you
inflict 2 damage with the first
5 points and another 2
damage with the second 5
points, for a total of 4 Life.
When a major enemy loses more
than half its Life points, its Level
drops by 1, and it makes a
Morale roll. Roll a d6. On a 1-3 or
less, the enemy flees. On a 4-6, the
enemy continues to fight to the
bitter end. When the enemy’s Life
points reach zero, the enemy dies,
or it is subdued if non-lethal attacks
were used. In both cases, its body
can be looted.
37
Important: the foe’s Level
drops IMMEDIATELY as soon
as you reduce its Life to less
than half. For example, a L6
boss with 5 Life becomes L5
when you inflict a total of 3
points of damage. It becomes
easier to hit the foe and to
avoid its attacks. Its wounds
are slowing it down!
Fleeing Enemies
When enemies flee due to a failed
Morale roll, you may decide to
chase them, for example to loot
them, or because a Trait forces you
to chase them. See Chases, p.34.
Enemy Reactions
Every enemy has a Reaction table
under its description. Roll d6 on the
table to determine what the enemy
will do. For Minions, make a single
roll for the whole group. The
following results are possible:
Offer Help: The creature offers
food, rest, tending of wounds, and
so on. You may heal 1 Life per
character. This rare Reaction
means you have found a faction of
enemies that opposes the
conquest of Earth, and helps the
human resistance. Aliens that offer
help do NOT count as a defeated
for XP purposes.
 Four Against Mars
Ignore: The enemy will simply
ignore the characters. You may
move through the area as desired
but the enemy will not help you in
any way. You may not loot the
enemy or take any objective under
their control. If you perform any
hostile action, the enemy will fight.
Flee: The enemy turns tail and
flees. You may NOT loot them
unless you Chase them (see p.34).
Fleeing enemies count as defeated
for XP purposes. You may loot the
bodies only of defeated (killed,
stunned, captured) enemies. Those
who flee will carry their equipment
with them.
Flee if Outnumbered: The
enemies flee only if there are fewer
enemies than team members.
Otherwise, the enemies fight. You
may NOT loot fleeing enemies
unless you chase them. Fleeing
enemies count as defeated for XP
purposes.
Bribe: The enemies ask for a bribe
(an object or action described in the
text of the encounter). If you pay
the bribe, the enemies will leave
you alone and you may move
through the area. If you choose not
to pay or cannot pay the bribe,
change this Reaction to fight. Bribe
is just a name, it doesn’t mean that
the aliens actually accepted a bribe.
A squad of aliens that accepts “all
38
your weapons” as a bribe is just a
unit of military police tasked to
disarm any humans entering the
area.
Fight: The enemies fight. Enemies
must test Morale when reduced
under 50% of their initial
number/Life points, unless their
profile states that they never check
Morale.
Fight to the Death: The enemy will
fight to the death, asking for no
quarter and giving none. Enemies
who fight to the death do not test
Morale.
Request for help: The enemy will
ask the team to solve a problem for
them. The problem has a Level. If
you roll its Level or better on d6, the
problem is solved and the enemy
lets you go. Scientists add +L to the
roll. Survivalists add +1/2 L. If the
problem is not solved, the enemy
attacks the team, going first. You
get only one chance to solve a
problem, and you must choose a
character for the attempt.
Side Mission: The enemy asks you
to perform a Side Mission. You may
accept or refuse it. If you accept,
roll on the Side Mission table to
determine what it is. If you
complete the Side Mission, as soon
as you come back to the area
where you encountered the enemy,
 Four Against Mars

you may roll on the rewards table assume they have a non-lethal
to determine your reward or gain setting. All characters killed in the
1 XP roll or play a Subplot. If you encounter are just knocked out or
refuse to accept the Side Mission, paralyzed and must roll on the
the enemy’s Reaction changes to alien experiments table to
peaceful or fight (your choice). determine their fate.
Mental Challenge: If your team Kidnap Men/Women: These alien
has at least one Esper or a piece of will try to kidnap only male or
alien tech allowing you to fight in female characters. Attacks on those
mental combat, the enemy will they try to kidnap are non-lethal,
challenge a psionic character of while attacks on others are lethal.
your choice to a mental duel. The Once all their targets have been
other characters may not knocked out, they will spend 1
intervene. Roll d6 +L for the Esper. action to grab the knocked out
If the result equals or surpasses the characters and use their next
enemy’s L, the Esper wins: the action to run away. Unless the rest
enemy walks away and you may of the team catches up with them
take its loot, if any. If the Esper and frees the kidnapped
loses, he loses 1 Level (an Esper characters, roll on the alien
may be demoted to Level 0, losing experiments table once per every
the ability to use psionic abilities kidnapped victim to determine
until he performs an XP roll and their fate.
goes back to Level 1). A 0 Level
Esper succeeds XP rolls on a 2+ (a
roll of 1 is still a failure).
If you cannot or do not want to
accept the mental challenge or if
your Esper loses the challenge, the
enemy will fight and the Esper will
gain 1 Insanity point. Enemies
losing a mental challenge count as
defeated for purposes of XP rolls.
Abduct: The aliens will attack with
stunners or other non-lethal
weapons. Even if they are equipped
with an otherwise lethal weapon,
39
 Four Against Mars

Character Classes
Each class has starting equipment and a formula for calculating their Life
points. Note that there is a maximum number of Life points each class
can have. Skills are not “free”, but must be earned with successful XP rolls.
Each successful XP roll lets you increase a character’s Level by 1 OR gain
1 Skill available to that class.

Combat Specialist
Ability: A Combat Specialist always
adds his Level to his Attack rolls.
Weapons Familiarity: All.
Starting Equipment: backpack,
light armor, shotgun or assault
rifle (your choice), hand
weapon (combat knife,
baseball, or fire axe), 1
fragmentation grenade.
Life: 5 + Level. A 1st Level
Combat Specialist has 6
Life. Maximum Life: 12.
Available Skills:
Accuracy, Acrobatics,
Danger Sense, Deadly Shot,
Demolitions, Dodge, Double
Attack, Draw Attacks, Extra Vitality,
Fast Draw, First Aid, Grenade
Chucker, Leadership, Martial Arts,
Predict Tactics, Rapid Fire, Skewer,
Stealth, Saboteur, Tough.
Optional: 1 random Trait and 1
Milestone of your choice.

40
 Four Against Mars

Medic
Ability: A Medic may treat diseases and wounds by rolling vs. the disease’s
Level. After each encounter, the Medic may heal 1 Life to every character
that was wounded during that encounter, including him/herself. No
character may benefit from the help of more than one Medic or first aid
per encounter.
Weapon Familiarity: pistol, knife
Starting Equipment: first aid kit, 1 light weapon, 1 pistol, 1 random alien
drug (roll on the alien drug table)
already modified for human use
if necessary.
Life: 4 + Level. A 1st Level Medic
has 5 Life. Maximum Life 8.
Available Skills: Additional
Weapon Familiarity, Chemistry,
Diplomacy, Extra Vitality, Keen
Eyes, Learn from Experience,
Leadership, Martial Arts,
Performer, Pest Control,
Psychology, Spot Weakness.
Optional: 1 random Trait and 1
Milestone of your choice.

41
 Four Against Mars

Criminal
Ability: A Criminal adds +L on rolls to disarm traps and Stealth rolls.
A Criminal adds +1/2 Level to Defense rolls.
A Criminal adds +L to Attack rolls when enjoying an ambush bonus.
Weapon Familiarity: knife, club, pistol.
Starting Equipment: Rope, lock picks, light hand weapon (knife or club),
flashlight, pistol.

Life: 4 + Level. A 1st

Level Criminal has
5 Life. Maximum
Life 10.
Available Skills:
Accuracy,
Acrobatics,
Additional Weapon
Familiarity, Danger
Sense, Detective,
Dodge, Fast Draw,
First Aid, Keen Eyes,
Leadership, Rapid
Fire, Martial Arts,
Saboteur, Knife
throwing, Quick
Footed, Slippery,
Spot Weakness,
Stab.
Optional: 1
random Trait and 1
Milestone of your
choice.

42
 Four Against Mars

Scientist
Ability: Add +L to all
Science rolls to
understand, repair,
modify, or invent
technology. Add +L to
Attack rolls with
experimental weapons
against weird menaces,
robots, and atomic
monsters.
Weapon Familiarity:
light weapon, 1 alien
weapon (see below), all
experimental weapons.
Starting Equipment:
Light hand weapon,
books, writing
implements, 1 random
alien weapon (roll on
the Alien Weapons
table; the Scientist
automatically has
familiarity with that weapon), access to a lab (+1 to Science rolls if there
is a lab in the area).
Life: 3+ Level. A 1st Level Scientist has 4 Life. Maximum Life 8.
Available Skills: Additional Weapon Familiarity, Chemistry, Demolitions,
Detective, Diplomacy, Electronics, Entomology, Learn from Experience,
First Aid, Keen Eyes, Leadership, Martial Arts, Performer, Pest Control,
Predict Tactics, Psychology, Spot Weakness, Saboteur, Stealth.
Optional: 1 random Trait and 1 Milestone of your choice.

43
 Four Against Mars

Survivalist
Ability: A Survivalist adds
+L on saves vs. all dangers
from the traps table,
saves vs. disease, and on
attacks with melee
weapons.
Weapon Familiarity: All.
Starting Equipment:
Light armor, hand
weapon, two-handed
melee weapon or bow,
shotgun or assault rifle,
backpack, Swiss army
knife, flashlight, dry
rations, water filter. The
Survivalist has one
hidden cache containing
any 3 non-alien items
hidden in any one
location in town (place
them before the
beginning of a game),
and may take them by
moving onto that location. You may decide what the items are when
you open the cache.
Life: 6+ Level. A first Level Survivalist has 7 Life. Maximum Life: 14.
Available Skills: Acrobatics, Danger Sense, Demolitions, Dodge, Draw
Attacks, Extra Vitality, Fast Draw, First Aid, Keen Eyes, Knife Throwing,
Leadership, Learn from Experience, Martial Arts, Predict Tactics, Quick
Footed, Terror Tactics, Skewer, Saboteur, Stealth, Tough.
Optional: 1 random Trait and 1 Milestone of your choice.

44
 Four Against Mars

Esper
Ability: An Esper adds +L to all Psi rolls and may use Psionic Skills. The
Esper starts with 1 Psionic Skill and may gain new ones with XP rolls.
Weapons familiarity: Light weapon.
Starting Equipment: Knife, books on psychic phenomena.
Life: 4 + Level. A 1st Level Esper has 5 Life. Maximum Life 8.
Available Skills: Any psionic Skills, Acrobatics, Additional Weapon
Familiarity, Danger Sense, Detective, Diplomacy, Dodge, Learn from
Experience, First Aid, Keen Eyes, Leadership, Martial Arts, Performer,
Predict Tactics, Psychology, Quick Footed, Spot Weakness, Stealth.
Optional: 1 random Trait and 1 Milestone of your choice.

Some Espers have

a natural psionic
talent. In a few
cases, the talent
was dormant
prior to the
invasion, but the
character’s
powers
awakened after
mental intrusion
by Martian or
Venusian
psionicists.
Others are the
result of Zeta-
Reticulan
experiments on
the human brain.

45
 Four Against Mars

Civilian
Ability: Civilians start with 3 Skills from their list of available Skills.
Luck: Civilians have a number of Luck points equal to their Level. They
may spend at any moment 1 Luck point to reroll any failed die roll (Save,
Defense, or Attack). Spent Luck points return between adventures.
Weapon Familiarity: One of the following: light hand weapon, shotgun,
pistol, bow.
Starting Equipment:
Backpack, shotgun or pistol
or bow, knife, rope, clothes
appropriate to the season.
Life: 4+ Level. A 1st Level
Civilian has 5 Life.
Maximum Life is 8.
Available Skills: Additional
Weapon Familiarity,
Acrobatics, Chemistry,
Detective, Diplomacy,
Dodge, Electronics,
Entomology, Extra Vitality,
Learn from Experience, First
Aid, Keen Eyes, Leadership,
Martial Arts, Performer,
Pest Control, Psychology,
Slippery, Stealth, Tough.
Optional: 1 or 2 random
Traits (you choose how
many) and 1 Milestone of
your choice.

46
 Four Against Mars
Equipment
Here is a list of common items
characters can have. At the
beginning of the game, PCs have
the starting equipment on their
class profile. During the game, they
may pick up loot from defeated
enemies or other sources. All
characters are assumed to wear
appropriate clothes and carry
enough food, drink and basic
prescription drugs for their
everyday needs. Alien tech is rare
and may be found only as loot
(exception: scientists begin the
game with 1 random alien tech
item).
Carrying Weapons
You may carry more than one
weapon. Note your “ready”
weapon on your profile. That’s the
weapon you carry in your hands
under normal circumstances.
During combat, you must spend a
turn to exchange weapons unless
you have the Fast Draw Skill. You
may always change what you are
holding in your hands before
entering a new area.
47
Bow: A bow has no modifier. The
bow is a silent weapon. A character
attacking with an ambush bonus
can count the ambush modifier on
his first TWO attacks, not only on
the first.
First Aid Kit: This is required to use
the First Aid Skill. A Medic needs the
first aid kit to heal wounds and
treat diseases.
Hand Weapon: This is a standard
melee weapon like a sword, axe,
mace, baseball bat, or a large
cleaver. Choose whether you want
a crushing or a slashing weapon. It
requires one hand to use and has
no bonus to Attack rolls.
Light Armor: Light armor adds +1
to the wearer’s Defense rolls.
Certain attacks from enemies
ignore this bonus. If the original
wearer dies, you may reassign light
armor to another character. Light
armor worn by civilians is
something like a biker’s helmet,
boots and a thick leather jacket.
Light Hand Weapon: A light hand
weapon gives you -1 on Attack rolls.
Choose whether your weapon
deals crushing or slashing damage.
 Four Against Mars
Examples of light weapons include
sticks, knives, daggers, and tools
used as improvised weapons, like
a hammer or a large screwdriver.
Rope: This may be necessary to tie
up an unconscious enemy or to
help a friend climb out of a pit.
Two-handed Weapon: This
weapon requires two hands to be
used but gives +1 to your Attack
rolls. Choose whether it deals
crushing or slashing damage.
Examples: large stick, quarterstaff,
sledgehammer, samurai sword,
golf iron.
Additional weapons are described
in the Weapon Summary Table in
the appendix.
48
High Tech Equipment
High tech equipment is alien tech
that has been adapted for human
use. Most weapons do not need
this adaptation, since the hands of
Zeta-Reticulans and Martians are
pretty similar to human hands. For
all other objects, a Science roll
against the Level of the object is
required. If the object is already
known to the team, because a
character already has a copy of that
item, the Science roll is not
necessary. If the roll is a natural 1,
the Scientist (roll d6): 1-4 destroys
the item or 5-6 destroys the item
AND loses 1 Life. All team members
can try once. If all fail, the object is
too complex to operate and must
be discarded.
Salvaging Electronic Components
Alien tech may be disassembled to
generate electronic components
that a Scientist may later use to
build or repair experimental
weaponry. Each object will
generate 1 electronic component
on a successful L6 Science roll, at
+2 if the PC performing the roll has
the Electronics Skill. On a failure,
the object is destroyed and no
useful materials are salvaged.
Salvaging is a slow activity. It may
 Four Against Mars

be performed in any area but not Experimental weapons can be

during combat or during a chase.
Building Experimental Weapons
A Scientist may build an
experimental weapon by spending
a number of electronic
components equal to the weapon’s
desired L and passing a Science roll
against that desired L+5. If the
Science roll fails, the weapon does
not work and the components are
wasted. The experimental weapon
allows the Scientist to add +L to his
Attack rolls against atomic
menaces, giant robots, and flying
saucers, up to a maximum bonus
equal to the weapon’s L.
dangerous for the user. They blow
up in your hands, inflicting d3
damage, if you roll a 1 on the Attack
roll (so it’s safer to use them when
you are a high level Scientist with a
good tier die).
Once an experimental weapon
blows up, the Scientist may attempt
to build it again. The L of the
Science roll and the amount of
electronic components needed to
rebuild the weapon are now halved
(round fractions UP). If the weapon
blows up again, however, the
Scientist will abandon the project:
the theory is flawed and the
Scientist must start again.

Example: Professor Dalia

Hartman plan to build a
Neutron Diffuser to destroy
the giant space amoeba that
is attacking her hometown.
Hartman is L6 so she plans to
build a weapon to the
maximum of her ability. The
experimental weapon will be
L6 too. Hartman spends 6
electronic components and
must perform a (6+5)= L11
Science roll.

49
 Four Against Mars
List of Tech Items
Acid: A dose of acid may be thrown
in combat automatically inflicting 2
damage upon a single target or
may be used to break free from any
bonds.
Alien Armor: The function of this
shiny silver suit is obvious, but it
takes a L2 Science roll to adapt it
for a human body. This suit of high
tech armor adds +2 to the wearer’s
Defense rolls without encumbering
the wearer. Certain attacks will
ignore this bonus.
Battery: Batteries are used to
operate alien tech devices and to
recharge blasters.
Bioscanner: Adapting this device
for human use requires a L6
Science roll. If a character has a
bioscanner ready (carries it in his
hands), reduce by 1 the chance of
the party being surprised by any
enemies encountered (for
example, if they had a 4 in 6 chance
of surprise, they will have a 3 in 6
chance). This modifier is cumulative
with the Danger Sense Skill.
If an enemy is equipped with a
bioscanner, all Stealth rolls
performed by characters against
that enemy are at -2.
50
Blaster: A blaster may be used by
humans without need for
adaptation. Blasters are battery
operated, pistol sized laser
weapons that may attack at +1 (an
unskilled user would be at a net 0
modifier, +1 from the weapon and
-1 for not possessing the weapon
familiarity). Blasters use up 1
battery per game.
Blaster Rifle: A blaster rifle may be
used by humans without any
adaptation. Blaster rifles are
battery operated, two-handed laser
weapons that attack at +2 (an
unskilled user is at a net +1, +2 from
the weapon, -1 for not having
Weapon Familiarity with it).
Blasters use up 1 battery per
encounter. When found, they are
assumed to have enough power to
work until the end of the
encounter, but a battery will have
to be inserted before the next
encounter.
Users with the Rapid Fire Skill may
attack twice per turn at +1 or once
at +2, when shooting a blaster rifle.
Body Stim Belt: L3 Science roll to
adapt to human use. The wearer
gains +2 on Defense rolls against
stun attacks. If an enemy is wearing
a body stim belt, attacks with
stunners on that alien are at -1.
 Four Against Mars
Communicator: This is a hand-
held or wrist mounted
communicator. It requires a L5
Science roll to adapt the first
communicator for human use, but
once that is done, the character
knows automatically how to adapt
any other communicators he may
find. A communicator lets the user
perform any voice-based or video-
based communication like a
modern-day smartphone would.
Characters with communicators
may be split from the party in
missions that allow for splitting.
Grenades: There are many types
of grenades.
Fragmentation Grenade: This is a
high power grenade of human or
alien origin. It is listed in the high
tech section because it is normally
not available as equipment and
may only be found as loot
(exception: combat specialists
begin the game with 1 grenade). A
grenade is a single use item and
may be thrown (if it is the weapon
the character has ready) in the first
turn of a combat. A grenade will
perform the equivalent of 3 attacks
at +1 against a group of enemies,
and if the user has the Grenade
Chucker Skill, it will always kill at
least 2 minor enemies or inflict 2
damage on a single major enemy:
roll the 3 attacks as normal, but
51
inflict a minimum of 2 damage if
the 3 Attack rolls score less than
that.
When a grenade is used against the
team, all characters must defend
vs. a L4 attack or take 1 damage
and lose their next action due to
the concussion. Combat Specialists
and Survivalists defend at +1.
All tech items in the loot of an
enemy that has been affected by a
grenade have a chance of being
damaged by the explosion. Roll d6
for each item. On a 1, the object is
destroyed beyond repair. On a 2,
the object is damaged but it may
be repaired with a Science roll (the
L of the Science roll is equal to the
item’s complexity, that is, the L you
would normally roll against to
adapt it for human use).
Stun Grenade: Stun grenades
work as fragmentation grenades,
above, but have no effect on
artificial beings (robots, androids),
zombies, vehicles, or targets
protected by forcefields. Living
enemies “killed” by stun grenades
are just knocked out and can be
automatically taken alive. Stun
grenades do not have any chance
of destroying loot.
When a stun grenade is used
against the team, all characters
must defend vs. a L3 attack or be
 Four Against Mars
knocked out. Survivalists and
characters with the Tough Trait
defend at +1 (this is cumulative).
Electric Grenade: Electric
grenades work as fragmentation
grenades, but have +3 against
robots. Subtract 1 from the d6 roll
to damage loot, counting a 0 as a 1.
When an electric grenade is used
against the team, treat as a
fragmentation grenade, but also
roll for a chance to destroy any high
tech equipment carried by an
affected character (the equipment
of characters who pass their
Defense roll against the grenade is
automatically safe).
Respirator: It takes a successful L3
Science roll to adapt a respirator to
human physiology. The wearer is
immune to the effects of poisonous
gases and may breathe any
52
atmosphere that is normally toxic
for humans.
Wrist-mounted Force Shield
Generator: Level HCL+3 Science
roll to adapt to human use. Every
time the wearer takes damage, roll
d6. On a 5 or 6, that damage is
negated. The generator does not
work if the wearer is attacked by
surprise. The force shield generator
may not be used in conjunction
with other types of forcefields,
including telekinetic ones (see
psionic Skills), but may be worn on
top of a suit of light armor or alien
armor.
 Four Against Mars
Leveling Up
Every time the team kills major
enemies, completes a mission, or
survives 10 encounters with
Minions (not Vermin - Vermin do
not give XP), a character of your
choice may attempt to level up OR
gain 1 Skill. This is called an
experience or XP roll. Roll that
character’s tier die: if the result is
higher than the character’s current
Level, or it is an explosive result, the
character gains 1 Level OR 1 Skill
from his list of allowed Skills
(Espers may gain 1 Psionic Skill). If
you defeat a giant atomic monster
or the final boss enemy of a
mission, you get 2 XP rolls. Game
effects that allow to reroll dice
may NOT be used on XP rolls.
Certain Skills and Traits (Studious,
Fast Learner, Learn from
Experience) modify XP rolls. You
may not level up the same
character twice in a row, but you
can keep trying leveling up with the
same character until you succeed.
If you play with multiple
players as a coop game or as
a traditional Game mastered
RPG, distribute XP rolls as
fairly as possible among all
participants. Give the first XP
roll to a random character
and then go around the table
53
clockwise, until all characters
have been given a chance to
level up.
Increasing Life with Level
A character who gains a Level gains
one Life point.
Summary of Experience Rules
Gaining experience is not
automatic. Every time your team
accomplishes something or defeats
a major opponent, you gain one or
more XP rolls.
● Use the character’s current die
tier to roll XP rolls, but add +2
on d8 rolls and +3 on d10 and
d12 rolls.
● XP rolls may explode.
● The target number that you
must roll is your current L+1.
E.g., if you are L5, you need a 6+
to level up. If the roll fails,
nothing happens. If the roll
succeeds, the character’s Level
is increased by 1 OR you gain a
Skill (your choice) from the list
of Skills available to that class.
● Your team gains 1 XP roll every
time you defeat a boss or 10
Minion groups.
 Four Against Mars
● Your team gains 2 XP rolls every
time you defeat an atomic
menace.
● XP rolls may not be rerolled.
● Vermin give no XP rolls.
● You may try to level up the
same character multiple times
until you succeed, using 1 XP
roll per attempt.
● You may NOT level up the same
character twice in a row.
● Each Level gives the character
1 additional Life OR 1 Skill, your
choice.
● You may level up only
characters that were present
when the danger or enemy was
defeated. For example, if Joe is
resting in a hospital while
Barbara, Will and Anna
defeated the giant atomic
spider, you may NOT use the 2
XP rolls from the giant atomic
spider to level up Joe.
Encumbrance
When your team defeats all the
enemies in an encounter, you may
take the creatures’ equipment and
assign it to your characters.
There is a limit to what a character
may carry without encumbering
54
themselves. Each character may
carry 10 objects in a backpack, plus
three weapons (a two-handed
weapon counts as two weapons).
Characters carrying more than this
have -1 on their Defense rolls. You
may leave any number of items in
a Safe House. You may leave any
items in other areas, but they will
be stolen.
Searching Areas
Whenever you explore an
unoccupied area, you MAY roll on
the Search table. An area may be
searched only once. Mark it with an
“S” when you search it. Note that
an area counts as unoccupied
when it is found unoccupied, not
when you have killed all opponents
in that area.
Search Table (d6)
1-2 Patrolling enemies attack!
3 Nothing in the area.
Choose one of the
following:
1) find a Clue
4 -6
2) find a random piece of
alien tech, or
3) play a Subplot.
 Four Against Mars

Patrolling Enemies Patrolling Enemies Table (d6)

If the rules call for patrolling
1 Roll on the Vermin table.
enemies, roll on the Patrolling
Enemies table to determine who or 2-3 Roll on the Minions table.
what they are. They automatically
surprise the team and attack first. Roll on the Weird Menace
4
You may not use Stealth to skulk table.
away from a fight with Patrolling
Enemies. Patrolling Enemies roll 5 Roll on the Boss table.
Morale as normal when the
situation calls for it, unless they are
Roll on the Robots or
a type that never tests Morale.
6 Flying Saucer table, your
You always roll a 1 in 6 chance of choice.
encountering Patrolling Enemies
when you move through an area
that you have already visited. You
NEVER check for Patrolling Enemies
in your Safe House.

55
 Four Against Mars
Subplots
Subplots are minor scenes in the
game that you may play when the
rules allow. A Subplot may change
the story of the game and
introduce new characters. A
Subplot can be played only once
per game. Some subplots can be
played only once per campaign.
Whenever you meet an NPC in a
Subplot, you may decide the NPC’s
gender, age, name, and other
details, or roll them randomly as
you prefer. Most details will have
no direct impact on the game but
will help you form a more solid
story.
The Librarian. Play once per game
and only when you perform a
research roll in a library. A
character in the team may spend 1
Clue to befriend a librarian, asking
him to conduct researches for the
party. Whenever the team returns
to the library area, any research
rolls will be at +2 thanks to the help
of the materials gathered by the
librarian. When you get a 1 on a
research roll, however, you do not
roll for patrolling enemies, but the
librarian mysteriously disappears.
You may encounter the librarian
again later by playing the
56
Disappeared Person Subplot. If for
any reason you need the librarian’s
game statistics, count him as a
Level 1 Civilian NPC.
Missing Person. You may play this
Subplot only when defeating a boss
enemy in a military installation,
alien base, or aboard a flying
saucer/spaceship. You find a
person that had previously
disappeared mysteriously in the
campaign (this includes one of your
former characters who was
abducted or otherwise captured).
Aliens have been torturing and
experimenting upon the poor
fellow, and the sight of his wounds
is enough to give one of your
characters 1 Insanity point. If the
person is returned to your Safe
House, you gain 2 XP rolls. If the
person is a past character, he may
be returned to active play but he
will have 1 Insanity point at the
beginning of his next game.
Long Lost Relative/Friend. One of
your characters meets a long lost
relative, friend, or past lover. The
person joins the team as a Level 1
Civilian with no equipment. Give
him a name and roll a Trait for him.
If the character survives and makes
it to the characters’ Safe House at
the end of the game, the character
who played this Subplot gains 1 XP
 Four Against Mars
roll. If the NPC dies, the character
gains 1 Insanity. If the character
who played the Subplot dies, the
NPC will leave the team as soon as
the team reaches an area without
an hostile encounter.
The Madman. The team meets a
disheveled person who had a
traumatic encounter with aliens.
The person will not join the team
but may be treated with a
successful Science roll (characters
with the Psychology Skill add +L to
the roll). The person’s psychological
trauma is treated as a L6 disease.
If the roll is successful, the
individual recovers and the
character who helped him gains 1
Clue.
Mutilated Cattle. This Subplot
may be played only in a farm or in
a cottage area. The character finds
horribly mutilated animals and
gains 1 Clue and 1 Insanity. In
addition, any encounter with Zeta-
Reticulans in this game will have no
chance to surprise the team.
The Professor’s Daughter/Son.
This Subplot may be played only
once per campaign. One of your
character meets an attractive
person and a romance begins. The
person joins the team as a L1
citizen. He or she is the
daughter/son of an aged professor
57
who has invented some
experimental weapon that may be
used against a Weird Menace that
terrorizes the area. At any moment,
the character may gain the
experimental weapon before
stepping into an area, and
automatically meet a random
Weird Menace with 3 additional Life
points compared to its standard
profile. The random menace will
automatically attack. If the team
defeats the menace and the
experimental weapon inflicts at
least 2 damage upon the creature,
the experimental weapon works
and may be kept by the team for
the rest of the campaign. If the
weapon fails to wound the creature
or the team runs away from the
combat, however, the invention
does not work and must be
discarded (it may still be salvaged
to gain d3 electronic components).
Give it some retro sci-fi name such
as a positronic discombombulator
or tachyonic mass disperser, or roll
on the Experimental Tech Name
generator in the appendix.
The Saucer. You may play this
Subplot only in an area where you
have encountered a flying saucer
or found an alien installation/base.
You manage to find a saucer and
steal it if you defeat the aliens that
 Four Against Mars
are guarding it. Roll three
encounters (one with Minions, one
with a boss, and one with a Weird
Menace) and if you defeat all three,
the team may enter the saucer.
Once you are in, you may move to
any area of the town or use the
saucer to attack any Weird Menace
that you know about (for example,
a giant monster that is causing
havoc in some area of town).
Anyway, every time you move into
a new area, there is a 3 in 6 chance
that another saucer (roll on the
random saucer table) will spot you
and attack you. You may at any
moment fly back to your Safe
House as long as you aren’t
engaged in aerial combat by
another saucer and deliver the
saucer to the authorities, gaining 2
XP rolls when you do so. Once a
character has been flying or using
the guns in a saucer, you may use
a successful XP roll to gain the
Spacecraft Piloting and Spacecraft
Gunnery Skills, that let you add the
character’s L when attacking with
saucer guns or when the saucer
you pilot is rolling to defend from
other ships’ attacks.
Abducted: Play this Subplot only
when instructed to do so from a
table result or other rule. A
random character is abducted by a
58
tractor beam from a spaceship. The
other characters may leave him to
his fate or jump in the beam and
follow him on the spaceship.
If they leave him to his fate, the ship
will zoom away and they will meet
the character again after d6 areas,
or at the end of the adventure as
they return to their Safe House,
whichever happens first. The
character will have to roll d6 on the
alien experiments table to
determine what the aliens did to
him.
If they join him, all the team will be
transported aboard a space ship
and will have to fight their way out.
Characters will have to resist an
HCL+1 intensity paralyzing ray (roll
every turn until the character
breaks free). Characters that
manage to break free will have to
fight a random group of Minions
(use the maximum number of
Minions for that encounter) and an
HCL+1 boss of the same race.
When the boss is killed, you may
have the saucer crash, with each
character taking d6 damage but
otherwise surviving the crash
landing (unless the damage is
enough to kill them, of course!) Or
one of your characters may try to
pilot the saucer to a safe landing
(Save vs. L7 piloting; characters
 Four Against Mars
with Spacecraft Piloting Skill add +L;
on a failure, the ship crashes as
above and the pilot takes 2d6
damage; on a success, the ship
lands safely. In both cases, the ship
is damaged in the landing. To
repair it, you must perform a L10
Science roll and use 20 electronic
components for repairs. A working
flying saucer can be delivered to
the authorities for 2 XP rolls. A
damaged flying saucer may be
dismantled to gain 5d6 electronic
components. See also the Saucer
Subplot for other rules about
spacecraft handling.
Left for Dead. You may play this
Subplot only once per character
per campaign. You may play this
only when the character’s Life point
total goes to zero. Roll d6. On a 1
or 2, the character is permanently
dead. On a 3 or 4, the character has
been captured by aliens and
returns d3 locations later, after
rolling on the alien experiments
table. On a 5 or 6, the character
loses 1 Level and returns, with just
1 Life point left, 3 locations later.
59
Clues and Secrets
During the game, on a successful
Search roll, or in other
circumstances described in the
rules, a character may find a Clue.
A Clue is an abstract
measurement of information.
Feel free to invent what the Clue is
if it is important for you, in away
that fits your story. For example, a
Clue may be the diary of a Scientist,
a slip of paper with some notes, a
letter from a scholar, some rumor
heard in a seedy bar, and so on.
Characters can accumulate Clues
during the current adventure or
over the course of a campaign. As
soon as a character has
accumulated 3 Clues, that
character discovers a Secret. The
character “burns” 3 Clues and
chooses one of the following game
effects to represent the Secret:
Weakness of an Enemy: Choose a
major enemy. When you meet it,
you have a +2 to attack it. The
bonus lasts for the whole duration
of the combat, not just limited to a
single attack. All characters in the
team enjoy the bonus. An example
would be knowing that an alien’s
armor has a weak spot under the
armpits or that a Venusian attack
 Four Against Mars
beast was wounded in a leg. Once
the combat with that specific
creature is over, the bonus is lost.
Deal with an Enemy: When you
encounter a enemy, you may
activate this Secret and declare that
you have a deal with him. The
enemy will let your team pass
through the area without attacking
you, at any time that you need to.
You may not, however, take its loot.
You may not use this rule with
Vermin or mindless creatures like
blobs and zombies.
Location of Hidden Tech: When
you enter any area, play this Secret
to recognize the area as the
location of a hidden tech. You gain
one tech item of your choice, but
you still need to figure it out with
the appropriate Science roll.
Increase Psionic Power: This can
be taken by an Esper. When you
use a specific psionic ability of your
choice, you count as being 1 L
higher. The ability must be
assigned when the Secret is
revealed and may not be changed
later. You may take this Secret
multiple times, once per psionic
ability.
Terrible Secret: Whenever a
enemy or group of Minions must
make a Morale roll in your
60
presence, the enemy will
automatically fail their Morale roll.
This has no effect on enemies that
do not test Morale or have rolled
the Fight to death Reaction. It also
has no effect on weird menaces.
Someone has been Imprisoned:
An important character is a
prisoner in a randomly-selected
area. You will find him guarded by
Minions or by a boss enemy. If you
manage to free him and bring him
to the Safe House alive, you will
receive 1 XP roll. The prisoner is
chained to a wall. An adventurer
can break the chain during combat
by winning an Attack roll against L4
or by using a laser weapon. An
adventurer rolling to free the
prisoner may not attack that turn.
Clues and Dying Characters
Clues are discovered by a single
character, but you can assume that
the character shared the
information he discovered with the
rest of the team. If a character dies,
move that character’s Clues to
another character’s profile.
 Four Against Mars
Saves
When the rules ask you to “Save”
versus a specific attack or other
danger, the name of the Save is just
descriptive, what counts is its Level.
Roll the character’s tier die, adding
any modifiers as instructed in the
description of the Save. If you roll
the target number or better, you
avoid the danger and nothing
happens to you. If you roll lower
than the target number, you suffer
the consequences indicated. This is
often a loss of Life or some lasting
inconvenience.
For example: Characters are
urged to Save vs. L3 poison or
lose 1 Life. A character rolling
a 1 or 2 will lose 1 Life.
Characters rolling 3 + will
suffer no effect.
Let’s Return Home!
Completing a mission is not
enough to succeed. You have to
make it back to your Safe House.
The characters will be exhausted,
probably wounded, and enemies
will try to sneak up on them. For
every area crossed, roll a 1 in 6
chance of encountering Patrolling
Enemies.
61
Splitting the team
In certain circumstances, you may
want to split the team. For
example, you may want to leave a
character to guard the body of a
fallen comrade or send a single
character to complete a mission.
Splitting the team is very
dangerous and you may do it if you
have at least two communicators.
Roll for encounter as normal for
both “sections” of the team, but if
you met enemies whose level or
number depends on the HCL, use
the team’s HCL, NOT the Level of
the characters who actually met
the enemy.
Fallen Heroes
When a character loses his last Life,
he slumps to the ground, mortally
wounded. If a combat is still going
on, a partner may still access any
equipment on the dead
adventurer’s body, but to do so the
friend must forfeit his attack for
that turn.
The character may survive. Play the
Left for Dead Subplot. This may be
done only once per character per
campaign.
 Four Against Mars
Things to Remember
● Characters have two hands they
can use. If the character holds a
two-handed weapon or a bow,
he or she cannot hold another
object or weapon. Readying that
object will require 1 action,
unless the character has the
Fast Draw Skill.
● Always write in pencil and keep
an eraser at hand. Lots of
information must be updated
during the game.
● Number your characters 1 to 4.
If you are asked to pick a
character at random, roll a d4.
● Read an enemy’s Reaction table
before attacking. Some
encounters may benefit you in
other ways than just XP and loot.
● Check for the enemies’ Morale
roll when you kill half the minor
enemies in a group, or when a
major monster loses more than
half of its Life. This can be a
lifesaver!
● Keep track of Minions killed. 10
Minion encounters give you 1
XP roll. One major enemy gives
you 1 XP roll. Vermin do not
give XP rolls.
● Perform XP rolls immediately.
You may not save them for later.
62
Keep track of who was the last
character who leveled up,
because you cannot level up the
same character twice in a row,
not even if he is the only
character alive. If you play the
game in cooperative mode, with
multiple players running one
character each, determine
randomly who gets the XP roll,
but do not let the same
character level twice in a row.
● An XP roll may give you 1 Level
or 1 Skill, not both. Think of
them as generic training in
one’s chosen profession
(leveling up) vs. specializing in a
specific area of expertise
(learning a Skill).
● A character may learn Skills
only from the list of Skills
allowed to his or her character
class.
● A character’s Life total goes up
by 1 when the character levels
up.
● There is a limit to the amount
of punishment that a human
body can take, so there is a
maximum number of Life
points that a character can
have. Characters who reach
that maximum may still level up
but they will not gain more Life
points.
 Four Against Mars
● Total team kills happen. It’s a
fact of adventuring Life. Choose
wisely when to run away and
when to keep fighting.
● Secrets and Subplots let you
steer the story in the direction
you want. Use them wisely!
The RPG-Lite Option
This game, like its fantasy
predecessor Four Against Darkness
has been designed as a solo game,
but this need not be the case. If you
are an adult playing with children,
or an expert player playing with
casual or first-time gamers, you
might want to run the game like a
rules-light, no-preparation, pen-
and-paper roleplaying game.
Adventures can be played one after
the other like the chapters in a
book. This continued play is called
a campaign. In a campaign, the
heroes retain the levels,
equipment, and treasure
accumulated in the previous
games, thus being able to face
bigger challenges. Wounds are fully
healed between games.
The most experienced or creative
player should become the game
master (GM) and the other
participants will play the roles of
the adventurers. If you have only
63
one GM and one player you can still
play: this is called One-on-One
gaming.
In a RPG-lite game, the GM keeps
track of the enemy’s Life points,
remembers to take their Morale
rolls, and reminds the players of
the rules. The GM should also make
sure that loot and XP rolls are
distributed fairly among all the
participants. Characters are not
supposed to be arguing: they
should cooperate and act like the
heroes of a movie. Every time the
players argue, the GM should let
them decide with a vote. If that
doesn’t work, the GM decides as
fairly as possible, and the other
players must accept her decision.
Keep the enemies’ Reaction tables
secret, so the players must plan
their character’s behavior without
knowing the odds. Be prepared to
embellish the results from the
tables with vivid descriptions,
telling your players what their
characters see, smell, or hear. Play
the role of any enemies they meet.
Be prepared to improvise: players
will surprise you and take
unexpected paths. Nearly any
action that the characters may
attempt and is not described in the
rules can be treated as a Save. The
only tricky part is deciding how
 Four Against Mars

difficult the action is, and which Once you have run through a few
classes may add their L, half their random missions generated with
L, or just a +1 bonus (or no bonus the tables in this book, you will be
at all!) to that Save. This depends able to invent new ones. You could
on the type of action. Make sure design your own random tables for
that each character gets a chance events and enemies, and create
to shine. Here are a few specific towns with different
suggestions: problems and different alien
● Survivalists and combat invaders. Adventures should not be
specialists are strong. They can limited to invaded towns: as the
lift weights, bash down doors, heroes become more powerful,
and resist pain and disease. they could hijack a flying saucer
and bring the action in space or on
● Criminals are agile and other planets. Watch old, black and
dexterous, so they should be white science fiction movies for
good at climbing, dodging, or inspiration.
avoiding traps and surprise
attacks.
● Scientists know stuff! They are
respected. People ask for their
advice. In the 50’s, the world
trusts Science!
● Do not have the players roll for
everything. Certain actions will
be impossible and others will
be automatically successful.
Just use logic and your sense of
drama. If you are in doubt, just
ask yourself: what would
happen in this situation in an
exciting book or movie?

64
 Four Against Mars
Generating a Mission
The town is represented in an
abstract manner through a map of
boxes numbered 1 to 20. Your
team begins in a random box: roll
d6 to determine where. This
location is your team’s Safe House.
No encounters are rolled when you
enter that area. An enemy who is
chasing you might chase you into
that area.
Take the town map diagram and
imagine it is your hometown. Fill in
the names of any landmarks or
known hangouts. For example, in
the Diner box you may write the
name of your favorite fast-food
place or a famous restaurant. Also
name schools, hospital etc. as
desired. If your hometown has
more than one hospital or stadium,
just pick one that you like. This does
not have an impact in the game but
it creates a more vivid setting.
Each location may have modifiers
for Stealth, making it easier or
more difficult for your team to
skulk around and avoid detection
when you move through a box
occupied by the enemy. Some
locations will let you acquire
equipment, healing, Clues, bonuses
to certain actions, or give you other
advantages.
65
The closer you move towards the
town center, the more heavily
guarded your objectives will be,
and the more likely you are of
encountering aliens or their
creations. When you are in the
white areas, your rolls on the
events and encounters table are at
-1. In the gray areas, they have no
modifier. And in the black areas, all
rolls on the event and encounters
table are at +1, making dangerous
encounters more likely.
After generating the town’s layout,
roll on the mission table.
Area Types - White Areas
Roll at -1 on the encounters and
events table when entering White
areas.
Warehouses. PCs in these areas
have +1 to Stealth rolls.
Cottages/Countryside Houses. If
used as a Safe House, PCs may heal
1 additional wound every time they
enter the area.
Diner or Fast Food Restaurant. If
spending an uneventful turn here
or rolling a peaceful encounter, all
characters may rest and heal 1
Insanity or 1 wound.
Farm. 2 in 6 of encountering
mutilated cattle. If area is occupied
 Four Against Mars
by Grays, the chance of finding
mutilated cattle is 4 in 6. If
mutilated cattle is encountered, all
characters must Save vs. L4 fear or
take 1 Insanity. If there is no violent
encounter or the visit to the farm is
uneventful, the characters may rest
and heal 1 wound each.
Park. +1 to Stealth rolls. There is a
2 in 6 chance of any Minions found
here being Reptilian mercenaries
(roll this chance before rolling on
the Minions table).
Hospital. If unoccupied (no
enemies are rolled), all PCs may
heal up to full health. This may be
done only once per PC per game.
Mall/Shopping Center. All
characters may pick up one non-
weapon tool or item, including fire
axes and kitchen knives that also
count as slashing hand weapons.
Area Types - Gray Areas
Roll with no modifier on the
encounters and events table when
entering Gray areas.
Hardware Store/Gun Shop. All
characters may get 1 pistol or
shotgun each.
Church. All characters may remove
1 Insanity point. Psionic aliens are
attracted by the positive emotions
66
generated by prayer, so there is a
2 in 6 chance of an encounter with
a Gray or Martian psionic (50%
chance of each).
School/Campus. All Scientist PCs
can ask for peer opinions on their
research and get a +1 on any
Science rolls performed here. Any
XP roll performed here is at +1 if
trying to add a scientific Skill
(Entomology, Diplomacy, Electronics,
Chemistry, Psychology).
Stadium/Arena. -1 on Stealth rolls.
Town Center. No special rules.
Police Station. At the police
station, if there is a violent
encounter, a policeman may join
your team. Count it as a Level 1
Combat Specialist armed with a
pistol and a hand weapon or with
a shotgun (your choice). There’s a
2 in 6 chance this will not happen if
your team includes any Criminals.
Library. When the PCs visit a
library, they can perform a
Research roll to find 1, 2 or 3 Clues
AS LONG AS at least one character
in the team has already 1 Clue. The
difficulty is L5 for 1 Clue, L7 for 2
Clues, and L10 for 3 Clues. Choose
a character as the main researcher.
Add +1 if he is a Medic or +L if he is
a Scientist. On a 1, roll on the
patrolling enemies table or play the
Librarian Subplot. On a failure,
 Four Against Mars
nothing happens. On a success,
gain the number of Clues you rolled
for.
Area Types - Black Areas
Roll at +1 on the encounters and
events table when entering Black
areas.
River/Bridge. Any Minions
encountered in this area will
benefit from the terrain. Their L
increases by 1.
Science Labs. Science rolls
performed here are at +2.
However, roll once at +1 on the
encounter table if you choose to
enter the labs.
Monument/Statue/Landmark.
Stealth rolls are at -1 here.
Characters get a +1 bonus to any
roll to resist fear and terror effects
in this area.
Steel Factory. There is a chance of
a heavy Martian presence here. Roll
d6. On a 1-2, there are no Martians
and you must roll on the events
table at +1 as normal. On a 3-4, the
area has a number of Martian
troopers equal to HCL+2. On a 5-6,
in addition to the troopers there is
also a (roll d6): 1-2 Martian leader,
3-4 Martian psionic, 5-6 Martian
Scientist with a random robot or
67
saucer (roll on the Robots or Saucer
table, your choice). Scientists
visiting a steel factory automatically
find tools and materials needed to
repair or modify robots or flying
saucers or, if you prefer, d6
electronic components.
High-Rise Buildings. In these
areas, character gain +1 to Stealth
and Defense rolls against giant
monsters and giant robots.
Random Layouts
If you prefer, after playing in a fixed
layout town, you may move the
action in another town. Draw 20
boxes and number them 1 to 20,
arranging them in 3 rows of 8 white
boxes, 7 gray boxes, and 5 black
boxes. Each box is connected with
the next box (so you can go from 1
to 2, from 2 to 3 and so on). Now
roll d6 for each box. On a 1 or 2,
add that many connectors to the
box leading to another box of a
different color (from a white box to
a gray box, or from a gray box to a
black or white box). On a 3+, add
no connectors. Once you have
connected the boxes, roll d20 for
each box on the following table to
determine what each box
represents. Apply your common
sense: if you roll three hospitals or
 Four Against Mars

five churches, reroll the repeated

results.
Random Area Type Table (d20)
You may also generate a semi 1 Warehouse
random layout. Roll d10+10 to
2 Cottage
place on the map the police station,
the stadium, the hospital and the Diner or Fast Food
3
library. All these locations are Restaurant
unique, so there will be just one 4 Farm
hospital, one police station, etc.
Select randomly the content of all 5 Mall or Shopping Center
other areas, rerolling any duplicate
6 Park
result.
7 Hospital
8 Hardware Store
9 Houses
10 Church
11 School
12 Stadium

Town Center/ Business

13
Area

14 Police Station
15 Library
16 River
17 Labs

18 Monument or Landmark

19 Steel Factory
20 High Rise buildings

68
 Four Against Mars
Missions
Roll on the Mission table below to
determine what your heroes must
accomplish.
Mission Table (d8)
1 Rescue
2 Sabotage
3 Search and Destroy
4 Scientific Expedition
5 Medical Supplies
6 Day of the Plantoids
The Menace of the
7
Replicating Blob
8 Reptilian Gladiators
Do not play the same mission twice
in a row. Reroll if you get the same
mission that you have played in
your last session. Unless the
description of the mission tells
otherwise, roll d6 on the town
diagram to determine which area
is the team’s Safe House. Roll on
the encounter table with a -1 in
White areas (areas 1 to 8), without
any modifier in Gray areas (areas 9
to 15) and at +1 in Black areas (16
to 20). Roll every time you visit a
new area. When you visit an
already visited area, roll a 1 in 6
chance of a random encounter with
Patrolling Enemies. Do not roll for
69
Patrolling Enemies in your Safe
House area.
Patrolling Enemies Table (d6)
1 Roll on the Vermin table.
2-3 Roll on the Minions table.
Roll on the Weird Menace
4
table.
5 Roll on the Boss table.
Roll on the Robots or the
6 Flying Saucer table, your
choice.
When you have played all the
missions at least once, you may
play the final mission (Plan Nine).
Rescue
An NPC is held prisoner in an alien
prison in a random hidden location.
You must spend 3 Clues to discover
the location. Roll d12+8 for the
location once you have discover it
and then defeat the enemies found
there. There is always 1 boss and 1
Weird Menace (both with +2 Life)
guarding the prisoner, plus a
number of Minions of the same
race as the boss equal to the team’s
HCL+1. The prisoner is a Level 1
Civilian and must be escorted to
the Safe House to gain 2 XP roll.
Note that this mission may also be
triggered by the abduction of a PC.
In that case, there is no Civilian
prisoner, only the PC, and you may
 Four Against Mars
automatically play the Rescue
Mission instead of rolling on the
Mission table.
Sabotage
Roll 3d6+2 to determine the
location of an alien installation that
must be destroyed. The team must
start from their Safe House, visit
the hardware store, and then
perform an HCL (minimum 4)
sabotage roll at the area of the
alien installation. Upon returning
to their Safe House, the team gains
2 XP rolls. The installation will be
guarded by (roll d6): 1-2) 1 random
boss with 1 random group of
Minions of the same race, 3-4) a
random Weird Menace, 5-6) a
random robot. You may decide to
send in one or two characters to
perform the sabotage. They will
have to use Stealth to get past the
enemies guarding the place. If the
saboteurs fail their Stealth rolls, the
enemies will attack them and they
will have to fight alone for 3 turns
before the other characters can
join the fray.
Search and Destroy
The team must start from a Safe
House, destroy at least 3 bosses or
weird menaces, and return to the
Safe House. Creatures that run
away due to a Flee reaction or
failed Morale rolls do not count.
70
They must be actually killed. Upon
returning in their Safe House, the
team gains 1 XP roll.
Scientific Expedition
The team must find at least 3
different weird menaces and
defeat them. You may at any point
spend 2 Clues to meet a Weird
Menace instead of rolling for an
encounter when you enter a new
area. Upon returning to the Safe
House, make a Science roll against
the destroyed creatures’ L to gain
d6 chemical components per
creature.
Medical Supplies
The team must reach the hospital,
defeat any encounters there (if the
hospital is empty, roll a 4 in 6
chance of Patrolling Enemies) and
then carry medical supplies to the
Science labs and then to the
Condos. If the mission is successful,
upon reaching the Safe House you
gain 2 XP rolls. If the mission fails,
an epidemic will spread through
town and all characters will have to
test versus an HCL+1 disease
(survivalists roll at +1/2 L, and
everybody rolls at +1 if there is at
least one Medic in the team).
Characters failing the Save will be
at -1 on all Attack rolls until they
visit the hospital and receive
treatment, during the next mission.
 Four Against Mars
Day of the Plantoids
A large colony of plantoids have
invaded the river area. The team
must reach the Science labs, grab
some chemical components there,
perform L6 Science rolls to create
a defoliant (+3 to Attack rolls vs.
plantoids, has no effect against
other creatures) and then reach the
river area. In the last 3 areas before
reaching the river, there is a 2 in 6
chance of encountering a group of
plantoids (as per the Minions table).
Roll this chance instead of the
normal encounter roll. The colony
infesting the river area includes 15
plantoids and 1 boss plantoid with
L and Life points equal to HCL.
Upon cleaning the area, the team
gains 1 XP roll, plus 1 for killing the
boss plantoid.
If this mission fails and the team is
forced to flee, beginning from the
next adventure every area traveled
will have a 1 in 8 chance of an
encounter with 2d6 plantoids,
rolled BEFORE performing the
normal encounter roll for the area
First resolve the encounter with
plantoids, if any, then roll normally
for encounter and events in that
area. The plantoid invasion will end
when the team will have destroyed
at least 50 plantoids. The number
of plantoids in the river area will
71
always be replenished to full, and
all damage inflicted on the boss
plantoid will be healed.
The Menace of the Replicating
Blob
Roll d6+3 to determine an area that
has been attacked by a blob. If this
is your Safe House, reroll until you
select a different area. You must
reach the area and destroy the
creature to gain 1 XP roll. However,
when you destroy the blob, there
is a 4 in 6 chance that it will reform
as TWO separate blobs (with -1 L
and half Life points, rounded down)
in the two closest areas. For
example, if the first blob formed in
area 6, the two smaller blobs will
form in areas 5 and 7. If one of
these areas happens to be your
Safe House, your Safe House is
destroyed and you must create a
new one. To create a new Safe
House, you must find an empty
location, spend 6 Clues there, and
then spend 3 chemical and 6
electronic components. Until you
have all the necessary elements,
you are not allowed to use a Safe
House to rest and recover wounds.
If two new blobs are created, you
must immediately play another
mission where you will gain
another XP roll by defeating BOTH
blobs. Unfortunately, each of the
 Four Against Mars
new two blobs will have a 2 in 6
chance of splitting again (with an
additional -1 to their L and only half
Life points). The process will
continue until you play a mission in
which you destroy all blobs and
they do not split into two more
blobs or the “split” blobs become
Level 0. At that point, they just
wither and die. You gain 1 XP roll
for each couple of blobs defeated.
You may not play other missions
until the blobs are dealt with.
Reptilian Gladiators
The Reptilians have abducted one
of your characters. Roll d6 to
determine who has been abducted:
1,2) the PC with the most Life
points; 3-4) the PC with the best
attack bonus, considering the best
melee weapon that the PC could
use); 5,6) a random PC. Roll d8 +4
to determine in which area the PC
is kept. The PC is being trained to
fight in a death sport, as Reptilians
like to watch humans kill each other
in gladiatorial contests. At the end
of a gladiator’s career, the human
gladiator will have to face a
professional Reptilian gladiator in
a duel to the death.
The other PCs must go to that
location and free the PC. The
opposition there will include a
number of L4 Reptilians armed
72
with melee weapons equal to
HCL+4. As the group of rescuers
fight against the Reptilians, the
enslaved PC will fight
simultaneously against a Reptilian
gladiator (HCL Boss, 5 Life).
Alternate fighting one turn of
combat between the team and the
Reptilians, and one turn between
the enslaved PC and the Reptilian
gladiator. The enslaved PC may not
be freed until the Reptilian
gladiator is killed. Both the
gladiator and the Reptilian troops
will fight to the death. Upon
returning to their Safe House, the
team receives up to 2 XP (1 for
defeating the Reptilian gladiator
and 1 for rescuing their friend).
Plan Nine
This is the final mission in the
campaign. You cannot roll this
mission on the mission table. You
may choose to play this mission
only when you have played at least
once all the other missions. It is
suggested that you play this
mission when all of your characters
have achieved L10 or higher, but
this is not a requirement. If you feel
lucky, you may try it before that.
During Plan Nine, the Safe House is
attacked by a random Weird
Menace. Its L is increased by 2. You
must decide whether you want to
 Four Against Mars

fight or run. If you choose to run, except a rifle or a hand weapon.

the Weird Menace will attack you You may give the new recruits any
once, but it will not chase you. If spare equipment you want, if you
you run, the Safe House is have it. If the character fails the
destroyed and you may not go back Charisma roll, there will be no-one
there to replenish your Life points to help the character.
until you create a new Safe House. Once a PC has defeated the Weird
To create a new Safe House, you Menace, the PC can move as
must find an empty location and normal to join the other PCs in
spend 6 Clues, 3 chemical and 6 another area.
electronic components. However,
every time you enter in this Safe Once the 3 menaces have been
House, you must roll a 1 in 6 chance dealt with, the scenario ends with
of it being compromised. If it is the party gaining 4 XP rolls.
compromised, you will have to
move away and create a new
Safe House if possible,
spending the same resources
described above.
While the Safe House is
attacked, 2 additional weird
menaces attack 2 random
areas. If multiple menaces
appear in the same area, reroll
until they all appear in different
areas.
You must split the team. In
every location, you can choose
one of your PCs to make a L5
Charisma roll (at +2 if you have
Leadership). On a success, the
PC will find d3 L1 Survivors or
Combat Experts (your choice)
with no Skills beyond their basic
abilities and no equipment

73
 Four Against Mars

Encounter Table (2d6)

Unsupervised Alien Tech found. You find some working piece of
2 technology that has been abandoned or dropped by aliens. Roll
on the Random Alien Tech table.
Tech protected by a trap. Roll on the Traps table and on the
3 Random Alien Tech table after deciding if you want one of your
characters (choose one) to risk it.
Roll on the Special Events table. You may search the area after
4
resolving the special event.
No encounter. Roll on the Special Feature table. You may search
5
the area after resolving the Special Feature.
6 Roll on the Vermin table.
7 Roll on the Minions table
Roll on the Minions table, but double the number of Minions
8
encountered if you are in a Gray or Black area.
9 No encounter. You may Search the area.
Roll d6. On a 1-2, roll on the Robots table. On a 3-6, roll on the
10
Weird Menace table.
11 Roll on the Boss table.
Secret Alien Base found! Roll d6 for its origin: 1-2 Martian, 3
Reptilian, 4 Venusian, 5-6 Zeta-Reticulan. The base will be
protected by a number of bosses equal to your HCL. If there is
more than one boss, they will belong to as many different types as
possible. For example, a Martian base with 2 bosses will have 1
Martian overlord and 1 Martian mind master. Each boss will have
d6 Minions. Use the boss description for Morale and Reaction
12 rules. You may perform Stealth rolls at +2, irrespective of the area
where the base is located, if you plan to skulk away. Use the
normal Stealth modifier for that area if you are trying to gain
surprise. Roll against the highest level boss. There is also a 1 in 6
chance for each boss present that the base includes 1 flying
saucer. Raiding the base will give you 1 Clue and d6 electronic or
chemical components per every boss present, plus all the tech
used by the aliens.
Roll on this table every time you move into a new, unexplored area.
74
 Four Against Mars

Special Feature table (d6)

Rest, Food and Drink: All characters are offered food and drink.
1
Wounded characters heal 1 Life each.
Motivational talk. You meet a survivor that tells you a moving
story about local freedom fighters. A character of your choice
gains a +1 on Attack against Martians, Reptilians, Grays or
2 Venusians (choose one alien race). The bonus lasts until the end
of the next encounter with that alien race. If you do not meet
that alien type during this mission, the bonus carries over into
your next missions until you meet one.
Armory: You meet a group of friendly survivors with a handy
stash of weapons. You can re-equip all your characters with new
3
weapons within the limits of the weapons allowed to their class.
The survivors only have Terran weapons and d3 grenades.
Plot Twist: You may play a Subplot of your choice, as long as the
4 conditions for that Subplot apply. In a multiplayer game, players
roll off to determine who can play a Subplot.
Mysterious Alien artifact: You may leave alone or check it. If
you check it, roll d6. 1-2 gain 1 Clue, 3-4 the artifact is a robot
that attacks the team (roll on the robots table, rerolling any giant
5
robot), 5-6 find 1 piece of alien tech (roll on the random alien
tech table) or d6 electronic components, d6+1 batteries or d6
chemical components (your choice).
Scientific mystery: The area has some strange phenomena that
a Scientist may investigate. Feel free to invent what it is! A weird
buzzing sound, a radioactive rock, strange lights, an alien fungus
growing on a wall – use your imagination. The mystery’s Level is
6
HCL+1. You may leave it alone or try to solve it. For every failed
attempt, roll a 1 in 6 chance that enemies arrive (roll on the
patrolling enemies table). If the mystery is solved, the Scientist
gains 1 Clue or 1 roll on the alien tech table (choose).

Roll on this table when the Encounter table tells you to do so.
75
 Four Against Mars

Special Events table (d6)

A flying saucer zooms over the team. Roll on the flying saucers
table to determine what type it is and its abilities. The characters
1 should all perform Stealth rolls vs. the flying saucer’s level to
avoid being spotted. If the roll fails, the flying saucer may ignore
your team or attack: roll on its Reaction table.
Patrolling enemies attack the team. Roll d6: 1-3 roll on the
2 Vermin table, 4 roll on the Minions table, 5 roll on the Weird
Menace table, 6 roll on the boss table.
A Civilian NPC asks the team to complete a mission. If you
accept his mission, roll on the side mission table. If you refuse,
the NPC disappears, but you may encounter the NPC later if you
3
roll again this result. If one of your characters has been killed or
abducted, the NPC may join your team. Roll up two Traits and
count him/her as a 1st level Civilian.
4 Trap! Roll on the traps table.
Mental onslaught. A powerful psychic wave burns through the
team’s brains. All character must Save vs. a HCL+2 mental blast.
Espers add +L, Scientists add +1/2 L. On a success, nothing
5
happens. A character failing the Save gains 1 Insanity point. A
character rolling a 1 must immediately Save again or gain a
second Insanity point.
Alien traitor! You meet a random alien (roll d6: 1-2 Martian, 3
Gray, 4-5 Venusian, 6 Reptilian) who has sided with human
rebels. The alien offers to trade one of your firearms for an alien
6
weapon (roll on the Alien Weapons table) or d6 electronic
components. If you are not interested in the trade, the alien will
go away.

Roll on this table when the Encounter table tells you to do so.

76
 Four Against Mars

Alien Weapons table (d12)

Stun rifle. Two handed, hits at +1. No effect on zombies, blobs,
1
robots or vehicles. Non-lethal.
Blaster rifle with d4 batteries. Two handed, hits at +2. Uses 1
2
battery per game.
Electric rifle. Two handed, hits at +2 against robots. No effect
3
on electrical entities.
Hand flamer. One handed, hits at +1, +2 vs. zombies. A hit
4
inflicts 2 damage vs. blobs and giant spiders.
Sonic rifle. Two handed. Non-lethal vs. living creatures. Attacks
5
crystalline creatures at +3. No effect on blobs.
Disintegrator. Two handed. It inflicts 3 damage with every hit
(on targets with more than 1 Life point). If the user rolls a 1 on
the Attack roll, its battery dies, and the disintegrator
malfunctions. It takes a L6 Science roll to repair it. This may be
attempted only outside of combat. If the roll fails, the
6 disintegrator may not be repaired. A character with a
disintegrator may use it, exhausting its battery, to break free of
any restraints or burn a hole through a wall. Targets killed by a
disintegrator are atomized and may not be looted -- all the
objects they carry are vaporized. Disintegrators hit at -2 targets
protected by forcefields.
7 Grenade. Roll d6, 1-3 fragmentation, 4-5 stun, 6 electrical.
Electrical absorber. Destroys an electrical entity with a
8
successful L6 Science roll.
Electrical or Sonic pistol (choose, see Weapon Summary
9
Table in the appendix for rules)
Blaster Pistol and d3 batteries. +1 to Attack rolls, one
10
handed. Uses 1 battery per game.
Sonic pistol. One handed. Non-lethal vs. living creatures.
11
Attacks crystalline creatures at +2. No effect on blobs.
12 Choose one of the results above.

Roll on this table to determine equipment used by aliens.

77
 Four Against Mars

Alien Drugs table (d8)

Frenzy Drug. 1 action to inject. Must be injected by a Medic or user will
also lose 1 Life. User gains +2 on all attacks with hand-to-hand weapons
1 and bare-handed attacks until the end of the encounter. If more than 1
dose is taken in an adventure, the user must Save versus L(6 + number
of doses taken) or lose 1 Life at the end of the encounter.
Psychic Booster. May be used only by Esper characters. The Esper’s
level counts as 2 higher until the end of the adventure for purposes of
using psionic Skills. This drug was developed for Zeta-Reticulan
2
physiology. Adapting it to humans requires a L5 Science roll and the
expenditure of 1 chemical component. On a failure, both the drug and
the chemical component are wasted.
Healing Booster. Upon injecting this drug, the user instantly heals up to
4 Life points or ignores the Drunkard trait for a whole game. If he takes
3 more than one dose in an adventure, he must roll a 1 in 6 chance of
feeling nauseous for each extra dose taken (-1 on all rolls until the end
of the adventure). Roll for each extra dose, side effects are cumulative.
Martian Bio-Repair Skin. Upon applying this dressing upon a wound,
the user will heal up to 5 damage. The Bio-Repair Skin purges the user’s
4
body from all noxious chemicals, including side effects of other drugs. It
may be used in combat, spending one action to do so.
Reflex Booster. Upon ingesting this pill, the user gains +1 on all
5 Defense rolls for the duration of an encounter. The drug has no known
side effects. Multiple doses have no additional effect.
Intelligence Booster. Upon inhaling this gas capsule, the user gains +2
to all Science rolls for the next three encounters. Multiple doses give a
cumulative +1 for each extra dose beyond the first, but the character
6
must consume 1 dose of healing booster (see 3, above) before the effect
of the intelligence booster wears off or gain a -1 on all Science rolls for
every extra dose taken until the end of the game.
Truth Serum. You may inject a dose into a Martian, Zeta-Reticulan, or
Reptilian (but not a Venusian or a Weird Menace) and perform a Science
7
roll at +2 against the creature’s L. On a success, gain 1 Clue. On a failure,
the interrogated prisoner dies.
Plant Repellant. Any human swallowing this pill gains +2 to Defense
rolls against plant life-forms. The pill is swallowed as a free action. The
8 effect lasts for the duration of an encounter. The bonus does not apply
to ranged attacks from plants, like the gas-propelled thorns shot by
plantoids.

78
 Four Against Mars

Vermin table (d8)

1 3d6 Martian drones, L2 robots. They count as L3 for purposes of
Stealth rolls. May be salvaged to generate 1 electronic part every
5 drones on a successful Science (electronics) Save vs. L5.
Reactions (d6): 1–3 ignore, 4–6 fight.
3d6 Venusian Centipede, L1 insects. Save vs. poison or be at -1
on Attack roll for the next 3 encounters. A Medic can treat this
2 with a L6 Save (add the Medic’s L to the roll).
Reactions (d6): 1–3 flee, 4–6 fight.
2d6 Martian Younglings, L2 Martians, Morale -1. Armed with
3 hand weapons. Reactions (d6): 1 flee, 2-3 flee if outnumbered, 4
bribe (1 weapon), 5–6 fight.
d6 Giant Ants, L4 insects. A character with Entomology Skill may
perform a L6 Science roll to gain 1 dose of acid from killed ants (1
4
dose per encounter, NOT 1 dose per ant). Reactions (d6): 1 flee,
2-4 capture one random character, 5-6 fight.
d6 Mutant Rats, L4 animals. If a character rolls a 1 on a Defense
roll, the character loses 1 item of his choice or takes 1 additional
5
wound (your choice). Reactions (d6): 1 flee, 2-3 bribe (food), 4 fight,
5-6 fight to the death.
2d6 Venusian Bats, L3 animals It is not possible to flee from this
6 encounter unless the PCs are in a flying vehicle. Lasers attack
Venusian bats at +1. Reactions (d6): 1-2 flee, 3-6 fight.
3d6 Reptilian Watchdogs, L4 animals. PCs may not perform
7
Stealth rolls against watchdogs. Reactions: always fight.
3d6 Bio-engineered Wasps. L2 insects. They cannot hurt
characters wearing alien armor. Any character stung must Save
vs. L3 venom (Survivalists add +L) or suffer a non-cumulative -1 to
Attack rolls until a Medic heals the condition (L5 to treat it, Medic
8
adds +L). A character with Entomology Skill may collect d6
chemical elements from this encounter by performing a L6
Science roll. Reactions: always fight, but the encounter may be
ignored in an area with a body of water.

Vermin are minor enemies with 1 Life each, inflicting 1 damage.

Defeating them gives no XP roll, so you do not have to keep track of
Vermin encounters.
79
 Four Against Mars

Minions table (d8)

HCL+2 Zombies. L3 undead created by Zeta-Reticulan experiments on
human corpses. Zombies never test Morale and are unaffected by
1
stunners, gases, poison and other non-lethal weapons. No loot, no
weapons. Reactions: Always fight to the death.
d6+3 Martian Troopers. L3, Morale +1. Armed with blaster pistols.
2
Reactions (d6): 1-2 bribe (1 weapon each), 4 capture females, 5–6 fight.
d6+3 Martian Scouts. L3. 2 in 6 chance of surprise. Armed with combat
3 knives and blaster pistols. Reactions (d6): 1 peaceful, 2 bribe (1 weapon
each), 3–4 capture females, 5-6 fight.
d6+1 Reptilians. L4. Roll d6 every time a Reptilian takes damage. On a
1-4, nothing happens. On a 5-6, the creature’s hard skin turns the blow
4 and the damage is ignored. This ability does not apply to laser attacks.
Armed with laser guns and long blades. Reactions (d6): 1-2 ignore, 3–5
fight, 6 fight to the death.
d6 Venusian Floating Brains. Level HCL-1, minimum 1. All characters
must resist an HCL-1 psionic scream assault (Scientists roll at +1, Espers
at +L) or gain 1 Insanity point. After this initial attack, Venusians will fight
5 with their tentacles. Each Venusian has a 1 in 6 chance of having a
useful piece of alien tech (roll on the Alien Tech table). No weapons
other than those indicated by the Alien Tech roll. Reactions (d6): 1 flee if
outnumbered, 2-4 capture males, 5–6 fight.
2d6 Grays (Zeta-Reticulans). L3. Armed with stunners and hand
6
weapons (batons). Reactions (d6): 1 flee, 2-4 capture, 5–6 fight.
2d6 Plantoids. L4. The plantoid begin by shooting a gas-propelled
projectile (L4 ranged attack) and then fights in melee slashing with its
7 tendrils. They are attacked at +3 by defoliant and flamers. They never
flee and never chase. No weapons or loot. Reactions (d6): 1-2 ignore, 3-6
fight.
d6+3 Combat Droids. L4 robots. Morale +1. Hit at +2 by electrical
weapons. Each destroyed droid may yield 1 electronic component if a
8 character passes a L6 Science roll (roll once per droid). They fight with
in-built buzz saws and pincers. No weapons or loot. Reactions (d6): 1-3
bribe (confiscate all weapons), 4-6 fight.

All Minions have 1 Life each and inflict 1 damage. Keep a tally of your
encounters with Minions. Surviving 10 encounters gives you 1 XP roll. It doesn’t
matter HOW MANY Minions you encounter. Each encounter counts as 1, and
when you total 10, you get 1 XP roll.

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 Four Against Mars

Boss table (d6)

Martian Mind Master. Level HCL (minimum 5), 4 Life. All characters
must Save vs. L4 psionic attack (Espers add +L to the Save) or choose to
gain 1 Insanity or lose their next action. Every turn, the mind master will
1
perform the psionic attack AND a melee attack, preferably against
someone who was not affected by the mental blast. Reactions: 1 ignore,
2 capture female, 3-6 fight.
Martian Overlord. Level HCL+1 (minimum 3), 5 Life, 2 attacks. Armed
2 with an energy melee weapon and a bioscanner. Reactions (d6): 1 bribe
(1 alien tech), 2–4 mission, 5 fight, 6 fight to the death.
Reptilian Brute. Level HCL (minimum 5), 6 Life, normal Morale. Each hit
from a brute inflicts 2 damage. If the brute flees, it will perform 1 attack
3 at a random character with a tail slap. If hit, the character will fall down
and be unable to pursue the fleeing brute. Reactions (d6): 1 challenge ,
2–3 fight, 4 capture, 5–6 fight to the death.
Gray Scientist. Level HCL (minimum 4), 4 Life, 2 attacks. Armed with a
blaster and electrical whip (targets hit loses 1 Life and their next action).
4 2 in 6 chance of wearing a Stim Belt (-1 to Attacks with Stun weapons)
Reactions (d6): 1-2 bribe (1 alien tech or experimental weapon), 3-5 mission,
6 fight.
Venusian Brain Monster. Level HCL (minimum 6), 4 Life, 3 attacks.
Before the fight begins, roll d6 to determine its special power: 1–3 force
field (all attacks have a 2 in 6 chance of bouncing off the force field), 4-5
weakness wave (at the beginning of the fight, all PCs must Save vs. HCL
5 psionics or be at -1 on all Defense rolls until the end of the encounter),
5-6 psionic drain (any Espers must Save vs. HCL psionics or lose all
psionic Skills until the end of the encounter). When the Brain Monster
dies, it broadcasts its thoughts in a nightmarish wave; all Espers gain 1
Insanity and 1 Clue. Reactions: 1-2 mission, 3-6 fight.
Martian Attack Beast. Level HCL (minimum 6), 6 Life. On each turn of
the beast, roll d6 to determine what it does. On a 1 or 2, it emits a blast
of microwaves, inflicting 1 Life to all characters who fail a L6 Save (each
character adds ½ L, rounded down, to the roll). Each high tech weapon
6 has a 1 in 6 chance of being destroyed by the blast. On a 3 to 6, the
beast bites 1 random character instead. Reactions (d6): 1 feeding (all
characters can attack at +2 on their first attack or automatically skulk away
if desired), 2–3 bribe (all the alien tech of the team), 4–6 fight. Always
pursues and gets +2 on chase rolls.

Defeating a boss gives 1 XP roll.

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 Four Against Mars

Weird Menace table (d6)

Killer Android. Level HCL (minimum 5) robot, 6 Life, 2 attacks. Armed with a
heavy weapon (2 damage) and 2 grenades, its first attack is always to lob a
1 fragmentation grenade (all characters must defend vs. L4 attack or take 1 damage
and lose their next action). Electrical weapons hit it at +2. Reactions: always fight to
the death.
Blob. Level HCL +2 (minimum 4), 12 Life, 4 attacks, unaffected by sonic and stun
weapons. Every time the blob kills a character, it gains 2 Life. If a Defense rolls
against the blob is a natural 1, the character is engulfed and may not escape until
the blob is killed. Once a character is engulfed, only melee weapons may be used
2 to fight the blob. The engulfed character continues to be attacked every turn and
may defend normally (he is not automatically damaged) but if ALL characters are
engulfed and do not manage to kill the blob with their next turn, they all die. The
blob is slow: all characters gain the Quick Footed Skill against it. The blob always
chases fleeing characters. Reaction: Always fight to the death.
Bio-Engineered Large Cat. L5, 6 Life, 1 attack, 2 damage. 4 in 6 chance of
surprise. It gets a +2 to chase rolls. If it flees into a park or woods, it may not be
3 chased. A Scientist with Chemistry Skill may analyze its body to gain 1 Clue with a
L6 Science roll (only one attempt possible). Reactions (d6): 1-2 bribe (4 chemical
components), 3–6 fight.
Electrical Entity. Level HCL-1, minimum 4, 5 Life, 2 attacks. May be damaged only
by lasers, blasters, disintegrators and melee weapons. Electrical and sonic
weapons do no damage to the electrical entity. A PC hitting the creature with a
melee weapon must save vs. HCL shock, either taking 1 damage or dropping the
4
weapon (player’s choice) on a failure. Espers with Electrokinesis are immune to
this effect, and Survivalists save at +1. A Scientist may use an electrical absorber to
destroy the creature with a successful Science roll against its L. Reactions (d6): 1-2
ignore, 3-6 fight.
Giant Atomic Spider. Level HCL (minimum 5), 5 Life, 3 attacks (1 bite, 1 leg crush,
1 web spray). Characters wounded by the bite must save vs. L3 poison
(Survivalists roll at +L) or lose 1 additional Life. The web attack does not inflict any
5
damage, but characters hit are glued on the spot and unable to escape from the
encounter. Characters in alien armor are immune to the web. Always chases
fleeing characters. Reactions: always fight.
Abducto-Ray. A beam shoots down from a flying saucer, targeting a random PC.
The character must successfully defend vs. an HCL attack or be transported on the
UFO. The other PCs may jump in the beam and join the abducted PC, or run away.
6 If the whole team ends up in the UFO, play the Abducted Subplot. If they don’t, the
abducted PC is found d6 areas later. Roll on the Alien Experiments table to
determine what happened to the PC. If the PC successfully defends against the
Abducto-Ray, the UFO zooms away. This encounter gives no XP.

Defeating a Weird Menace gives 2 XP rolls. A Scientist using an experimental weapon

against a Menace adds +L to the Attack roll.

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 Four Against Mars

Robots table (d6)

Killer Android. L5, 6 Life, 2 attacks. Armed with a random alien weapon, its first
attack is always to lob a fragmentation grenade against the team (all characters
1
must defend vs. a L4 attack or take 1 damage and lose their next action due to
the concussion). Reactions: always fight to the death.

Battle Robot. Level HCL+1, Life= HCL (minimum 4), 1 attack, 2 damage. Each
2 blow on the robot (except attacks with electrical weapons) has a 2 in 6 chance of
bouncing off. Morale +1. Reactions: 1-2 ignore, 3-6 fight.

Giant Destroyer. Level HCL+4, Life= HCL (minimum 4), 4 attacks, 2 damage. Each
3 blow on it has a 4 in 6 chance of bouncing off. Morale: never flees. The giant
destroyer never pursues fleeing characters. Reactions: 1-3 ignore, 4-6 fight.

Octo-Droid. Level HCL, 12 Life , 8 attacks. Each weapon held in hands by

characters has a 1 in 6 chance of being disarmed every turn (roll BEFORE the
character attacks). Normal Morale. 2 in 6 chance of surprise. All blows on Octo-
4 Droid have a 2 in 6 chance of being deflected. If an attack goes multiple times
over the Octo-Droid’s L, it severs one of its 8 tentacles, removing 1 of the
creature’s attacks, in addition to inflicting 1 additional wound. Reactions: 1 ignore,
2-6 fights.

Giant Mechanical Centipede. Level HCL+3, Life HCL+3, 2 attacks, 1 in 6 chance

of surprise. All Stealth rolls vs. a centipede are at -1. Before combat, it sprays gas
at the team as a free action. All characters not wearing a respirator or a space
5 suit must save vs. L6 poison (survivalists add +L) or lose 2 Life and be at -1 on
attacks for the duration of the fight. At the end of the encounter, the modifier
disappears but not the damage. Sonic weapons hit centipedes at +2. Reactions:
1-3 ignore, 4-6 fight.

Atomic Robot. Level HCL+5, Life = HCL+4, 2 attacks, 3 damage per attack. All
attacks on it have a 4 in 6 chance of being deflected by its armor. Any blow that
goes twice over the robot’s L dents its armor. When this happens, reduce the
6 chance of the armor deflecting attacks by 1. This is cumulative, so multiple results
like that may lower the chance of deflection to zero. When the atomic robot is
destroyed, it explodes, and all characters must defend against an HCL attack or
lose 2 Life. Reactions: 1-3 ignore, 4-6 fight.

Robots are unaffected by poison and gases, and are attacked at +2 by electrical
weapons. A Scientist using an experimental weapon against a robot adds +L to the
Attack roll. Defeating a robot gives 2 XP rolls to the team.

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 Four Against Mars

Side Mission table (d6)

It must be destroyed! The creature asks you to kill a boss
enemy. Roll on the boss table to determine who. The next time
1 you meet a boss, instead of rolling it up, you may choose to meet
that boss. Killing the boss and bringing its body to the creature’s
area completes the mission.
I need electronic components! To complete the mission, you
must bring a number of electronic components equal to HCL to
2
this area. If you already have that amount available, the amount
required is doubled.

I want him alive! As 1, above, but you must subdue the boss, tie
3
him up, and take him to the area to complete the mission.

Bring me that! You must locate some object and return it to this
area. Roll on the Alien Tech table to determine what the object is.
If you already possesses that object, roll again until a different
4 object is selected. Every time you kill a major foe, there’s a 1 in 6
chance that you will find that object. While bringing the object, all
foes with a Capture Reaction on their Reaction table will try to
capture the character carrying the item.

Avoid unnecessary conflict! To complete the mission, you must

complete at least three encounters in the adventure in a non
5 violent way. This includes Reactions such as bribing, getting help
from enemies, performing another mission (not this one!),
running away from an encounter, or taking an enemy alive.
Scientific Support. The creature needs scientific back-up for a
project and needs help understanding human technology or
scientific theory. You must visit the school and library to pick up
6
books and information there, return to the current area, and
perform a Science roll vs. HCL-1 (minimum 3). Only one try is
allowed.

When you complete a side mission, pick one of the following rewards:
1) gain 1 XP roll, 2) play a Subplot, or 3) roll on the Rewards table.

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 Four Against Mars

Rewards table (d6)

The Formula. You receive a secret formula or blueprint that will
1 give a +4 to a single roll to design an experimental weapon or to
perform any other Science roll.
Super Weapon. You receive a L6 experimental weapon. It allows
2 any Scientist to add +L (up to +6) when used to attack robots,
spaceships or weird menaces.
Experiment BX, Super-soldier Formula. You receive a formula
that can be duplicated spending 10 chemical components and
passing a L8 Science roll. The imbiber of the formula adds +1/2 L
3 to his Attack rolls for his next 3 combat encounters. It takes 1
turn to imbibe the formula. The Scientist producing the formula
receives 1 XP roll when the formula works for the first time in a
campaign.
Grenades. You receive d6 random grenades. Decide before
4 rolling if all the grenades are of the same type (roll just once to
determine their type), or roll randomly for each.
Zeta-Reticulan Microscope. Halve the cost in chemical
5 components of anything created with the help of this device
(round up).
Rejuvenation Chamber. You discover an experimental, Zeta-
Reticulan medical chamber in a random location (not in the
characters’ Safe House - reroll if necessary). It is damaged. It can
be repaired with a successful L7 Science roll and the expenditure
of 10 electronic and 5 chemical components. Once repaired, a
6 dead character may be brought to the chamber to be revived.
The character loses 1 L but is otherwise returned to play (1st level
characters do not lose 1L). Each character may be rejuvenated
only once per campaign. The loss of a Level does not cause loss
of Life points or Skills. Characters killed by a disintegrator or a
blob may not be revived.
Each reward can be found only once per campaign, with the exception
of grenades that can be found multiple times. Mark the reward when
it is rolled. If it is rolled again, reroll until a different reward is selected.

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 Four Against Mars

Alien Experiments table (d6)

Trauma. The PC returns with a random Trait and 1 Insanity point. If that
1 pushes the character over his Insanity limit, the character becomes an
NPC.
Infected. The PC has been infected with a wasting disease. A Medic
must perform a Science roll against HCL and burn HCL/2 (round down)
chemical components to devise a treatment or the PC will
2 PERMANENTLY lose 1 Life at the end of every game. This process
continues until he dies or the treatment is successful. The treatment
may be attempted only once per game, before the end of the game,
before the PC loses his Life point.
Dead. The PC dies a few minutes after meeting the team. However,
3 before he dies, he manages to reveal something he has seen -- gain 1
Clue with any one character.
Bio-weapon. The PC had 1 random Alien Tech installed in his body and
managed to run away. One of his arms has become a weapon and may
not be used to hold a different weapon or tool. Now the PC can
4
permanently use that weapon but effectively looks like a monstrous
cyborg and receives a permanent -2 on all Charisma rolls with humans.
The PC automatically has a familiarity with the weapon.
Mind-Forge. The PC gains 1 Insanity and 1 random Psionic Skill. The
Insanity may be healed as normal. At the end of every adventure, he
5 has a 2 in 6 chance of losing the Psionic Skill. Once lost, the ability is
gone forever (if the PC is an Esper, he may learn that Skill again with a
successful XP roll).
Traitor of the human race. The PC returns to play as normal. You may
not dismiss him. Roll d6 to determine who experimented on him: 1-2
Martians, 3 Venusians, 4-5 Zeta-Reticulans, 6 Reptilians. During the next
encounter with any members of that alien race , the mental
6 conditioning will kick in and the PC will betray the team, joining the
opposition as a boss (use the PC’s L+3 and Life points). If the character is
knocked unconscious or otherwise caught alive, you may attempt a
single Science roll vs. the PC’s L. A success breaks the PC’s conditioning
and returns him to normality. If the Science roll fails, the PC dies.

Abducted PCs will be found d6 areas later, or at the end of the adventure,
whatever comes first. Roll for each PC separately on this table to determine
their fate.

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 Four Against Mars

Random Alien Tech table (d20)

1 Alien Armor.
2 d3 Respirators or d3 communicator (choose).
3 d6 electronic components.
4 d6 chemical components.
5 d6 +3 batteries.
6 Body Stim Belt or Bioscanner (choose).
Blaster Rifle or d3+1 drugs (choose, then roll on the random alien
7
drugs table).
8 Blaster rifle or pistol (choose).
9 Wrist-mounted force shield generator.
10 1 fragmentation grenade.
11 d3 stun grenades.
12 1 electric grenade.
1 power tool (may be used as a slashing hand weapon, +2 vs.
13
robots), +1 to all Science rolls to repair robots and spacecraft.
Watchdog drone. You may use it at any time to ignore 1 Patrolling
14
Enemy encounter.
Explosive (may be thrown in combat like a fragmentation grenade or
15
used to give +3 to any Sabotage roll).
Half-finished L6 experimental weapon. It requires a L6 Science roll
16
and d3 electronic components to be finished.
Martian Infocube. Requires a L5 Science roll to decipher. On a
failure, the cube is destroyed and can be salvaged as 1 electronic
17
component. On a success, gain 1 Secret or gain +2 to a single Science
roll of your choice (a one time bonus).
Reptilian scent spray can. Each use allows the team to choose the
18
Reaction of the next encounter with Reptilians. D3 uses per can.
19 d6 +1 grenades of your choice (you can mix different types).
Zeta-Reticulan infocube. Requires a L6 Science roll to decipher. On a
failure, the infocube summons a random Patrolling Enemy. On a
20
success, gain 1 Secret and play a Subplot, or a PC Scientist gains a
permanent +1 to Science rolls to build experimental weapons.

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 Four Against Mars

Experimental Tech Name Generator

When you need a name for an experimental weapon or piece of
machinery, roll d20 for an adjective and then another d20 for a
noun. For example, a roll of 4 and a roll of 7 would create an
Accelerating Neutralizer.

Adjective (d20) Noun(d20)

1 Tachyonic 1 Disruptor
2 Positronic 2 Disintegrator
3 Electronic 3 Integrator
4 Accelerating 4 Synthetizer
5 Synthetic 5 Oscillator
6 Amplificating 6 Amplificator
7 Quantic 7 Neutralizer
8 Automatic 8 Actuator
9 Bio-Feedback 9 Projector
10 Sonic 10 Probe
11 Magnetic 11 Processor
12 Degaussing 12 Regulator
13 Conducting 13 Sequencer
14 Dimensional 14 Stimulator
15 Fluctuating 15 Tractor
16 Analyzing 16 Transmitter
17 Gravitonic 17 Transporter
18 Multitronic 18 Engine
19 Neutron 19 Extender
20 Atomic 20 Accelerator

These random names have, obviously, no bearing on play and no

scientific verisimilitude, but they are fun to use.

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 Four Against Mars

Flying Saucer table (d6)

Flying saucer, Recon: Stealth rolls against this saucer use
HCL, but with a minimum of L9. For combat purposes, treat
1 it as a boss, HCL+5 (minimum L10), 14 Life. It attacks with a
laser cannon inflicting 2 damage. It may be attacked only
with alien weapons and grenades.

Flying saucer, Combat: Stealth rolls against this saucer are

L8. For combat purposes, treat the saucer as L10, 20 Life.
Shots from the saucer’s pulse cannon inflict 3 damage. It
2
may be attacked only with alien weapons and each shot
fired at it has a 2 in 6 chance of being deflected by its
forcefields.

Flying Cigar: it will automatically ignore the team unless

attacked. For combat, treat as L12 boss, 12 Life, 8 attacks per
3
turn, each inflicting 2 damage. It may be attacked only by
alien weapons.

Flying Pyramid: Treat as L12 boss, 8 Life, 4 attacks, each

inflicting 2 damage. It may be attacked only by alien
4
weapons, but every shot has a 3 in 6 chance of being
deflected by its forcefields.

Flying Sphere. Treat as L12 boss, 6 Life, 2 attacks, each

inflicting 2 damage. It may be attacked only by alien
5
weapons. Every shot that hits a flying sphere has a 4 in 6
chance of being deflected by its forcefields.

Dimensional Chamber. Treat as HCL+6 boss (minimum

L12), 8 Life, 4 attacks, each inflicting 2 damage. It may be
6 attacked only by alien weapons. Every shot that hits a
dimensional chamber has a 4 in 6 chance of being deflected
by its forcefields.

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 Four Against Mars

If I wield a weapon in each

Frequently Asked hands, can I attack twice?
Questions No, you can perform multiple attacks
only if allowed by a Skill or weapon.
Can I loot the bodies of my
Holding a weapon in each hand has
friends if they are killed?
the only advantage that it is harder
Yes, unless you ran away from an to disarm you.
encounter and left your comrade
there. You may NOT loot characters
who have been abducted, as their
equipment has been carried away
with them.

Can I exchange
equipment
between two
characters?
Yes, in any situation
except during a
combat. During a
combat, two
characters wanting
to exchange
equipment must
forfeit their attacks
to do so.

What is a
Charisma roll?
It is just a name for a
specific type of roll
that applies in a social
situation, for example
when a character is
trying to persuade an
NPC to help him.

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Four Against Mars

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 Four Against Mars

Traps table (d8)

Dart: The character targeted by this attack (random character if no
1
other information is given) must make a Defense roll or lose 1 Life.
Poison gas: All characters must save vs. L4 Poison or lose 1 Life.
2
Survivalists add +L. PCs with respirators or space suits are unaffected.
Trapdoor: A random PC must save vs. the trap’s L (consider it L4 if no
other information is given). Criminals and all PCs with Acrobatics Skill
3 roll at +1. Survivalists add +L. A PC failing the roll falls into the
trapdoor, losing 1 Life. In addition, it will take at least another PC and
a rope to help him out of the trapdoor.
Electrical shock: A random PC must save vs. L5 electricity or lose 1
4 Life. Survivalists roll at +L. A L5 Science roll will identify the electrical
source and may turn it into 1 electronic component.
Laser blast: An automated blaster performs d3 attacks, each on a
random PC. Targets must make a Defense roll vs. L4 or be hit for 2
5
damage. The blaster may be cannibalized with a L6 Science roll and
turned into d3 electronic components.
Alarm: Roll a 4 in 6 chance of an encounter with Patrolling Enemies
6
unless ALL PCs pass a L4 Stealth roll.
Lab-Created Disease: All PCs must save vs. L5 disease. Medics roll at
+1, survivalists at +L. A PC failing this roll must repeat the Save every
time he moves into a new area, losing 1 Life on every failure, until he
dies or rolls a success. A Medic may find a cure. Roll vs. L6, add +L. On
a success, the Medic may create 1 dose of treatment per every
7
chemical component invested into the roll. On a failure, all
components invested are wasted. Choose how many components are
invested before rolling. A Medic with no chemical components may
not find a cure. A character using a dose of the treatment adds +3 to
his next attempt to shake off the disease.
Explosion: All PCs must save vs. an HCL explosion. Survivalists add +L.
Combat specialists add +1. On a success, a PC is thrown to the ground
8 and each piece of equipment he carries has a 1 in 6 chance of being
destroyed. On a failure, the PC loses 2 Life and each object carried
has a 2 in 6 chance of being destroyed.

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 Four Against Mars

Search Table (d6)

1 or 2 Patrolling Enemies attack!

3 Nothing in the area.

Choose one of the following: 1)find a Clue, 2) find a

4 to 6
random piece of alien tech, or 3) play a Subplot.

Patrolling Enemies
Table (d6)

Roll on the
1
Vermin table.

Roll on the
2-3
Minions table.

Roll on the
4 Weird Menace
table.

Roll on the
5
Boss table.

Roll on the
Robots or
6 Flying Saucer
table, your
choice.

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 Four Against Mars

Combat Initiative Diagram

Do Enemies Surprise You?
YES NO

PCs MAY roll Stealth. Each PC rolls

Enemies act first. individually.
Roll for their
Reaction to
determine what
they do.

PCs failing the Stealth Save PCs passing the Stealth MAY do
MUST do one of the following: one of the following:

1) Attack the enemy; 1) Attack the enemy with an

2) Wait for enemy Reaction if
no other characters have
performed hostile actions;
3) Run away; move all PCs
who run away to a
neighboring area, rolling
for encounters at +1.
Enemies may chase them.
ambush bonus (+1 for all
PCs, +L for criminals);
2) Wait for enemy Reaction if
no other characters have
performed hostile actions;
3) Skulk away; PCs who skulk
away remain in the same
area but are hidden. They
may rejoin the combat later
(they lose 1 turn doing so) or
rejoin the rest of the team at
the end of the battle.

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 Four Against Mars
Weapon Summary table
Light weapon (stick, knife, short sword, thrown weapons). -1 to Attack
rolls.
Hand weapon (sword, baseball bat, hammer, axe): no modifier, one
handed.
Two-Handed weapon (katana, sledgehammer, large axe, two-handed
sword, halberd): +1 to Attack rolls, two handed.
Bow: If user has an Ambush bonus, may use the Ambush bonus for 2
Attack rolls instead of 1.
Thrown knife: -1 to Attack roll (light weapon), but +2 if used to attack a
foe that is running away.
Pistol: +1 to Attack rolls, one handed.
Laser Pistol/blaster: +1 to Attack rolls, one handed. Uses 1 battery per
game.
Shotgun: +1 to Attack rolls, 2 handed, +2 vs. Vermin.
Submachine gun, assault rifle: two handed, +1 to Attack rolls, or 2
attack per turn with no bonus if you have the Rapid Fire Skill.
Stun rifle: Two handed, +1 to Attack rolls. No effect on zombies, blobs,
robots or vehicles. Non-lethal.
Electric pistol: One handed, hits at +2 against robots. No effect on
electrical entities.
Electric rifle: Two handed, hits at +1, hits at +2 against robots. No
effect on electrical entities.

Blaster rifle: Two handed, +2 to Attack rolls; you may perform 2

attacks per turn at +1 if you have the Rapid Fire Skill. Uses 1 battery per
encounter.

Hand flamer: One handed, hits at +1, +2 vs. zombies. Damage 2 vs.
blobs and giant spiders.
Fragmentation grenade: One use, one action to ready it, one action
to throw it. Perform 3 attacks at +1. Do not add the user’s L to the
Attack rolls. If you have the Grenade Chucker Skill, you inflict a
minimum of 2 damage.

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 Four Against Mars

Weapon Summary table, continued from previous page

Stun grenade: as fragmentation grenade, above, but damage is not
lethal. No effect against robots and vehicles.
Electric grenade: as fragmentation grenade, above, +3 vs robots.
Power tool: counts as a hand weapon, +2 vs. robots and zombies.
Sonic pistol: One handed. Non-lethal vs. living creatures. Attacks
crystalline creatures at +2.
Sonic rifle: two handed. Non-lethal vs. living creatures. Attacks
crystalline creatures at +3.
Explosive charge: may be thrown like a fragmentation grenade or
used to give +3 to any Sabotage roll.

Disintegrator: Two handed. 3 damage per hit on targets with more

than 1 Life, 1 Damage on targets with 1 Life. If you roll a 1 on the Attack
roll, it malfunctions. It takes a L6 Science roll to repair it. If the roll fails,
the disintegrator may not be repaired. A character with a disintegrator
may use it, exhausting its battery, to break free of any restraints or
burn a hole through a wall. Targets killed by a disintegrator are
atomized, and may not be looted -- all the objects they carry are
vaporized. Disintegrators hit at -2 targets protected by forcefields.

Electrical absorber. Destroys an electrical entity with a successful L6

Science roll. One attempt per turn is possible. This weapon may be
used by any character and has no effect on targets other than electrical
entities.

Electrical whip: targets hit lose 1 Life and their next action. No more
than 1 action is lost per turn, so the effects of multiple hits from
electrical whips are not cumulative. On an Attack roll of 1, the whip
runs out of energy. Use 1 action and 1 battery to recharge it. +1 to
Attack rolls against robots (but they do not lose actions when hit).

Attacks by weapons described as non-lethal knock out targets without

killing them. Targets can then be revived and bound. Artificial creatures,
robots, vehicles and blobs are unaffected by non-lethal attacks.

97
 Town Map
Connectors show where you can move.
This does not represent actual roads
and distances but the team skillfully
moving to avoid heavily patrolled zones.
1) Warehouse

9) Condos

2) Cottages 16) River

10) Church

3) Diner/ 17) Labs

Restaurant
11) Schools

4) Farm 18) Monument

12) Stadium

5) Mall 19) Steel

Factory
13) Town
Center

6) Park 20) Train

Station
14) Police
Station
Roll d6 to determine where
7) Hardware the team’s Safe House is. This
Store remains the same throughout
15) Library the campaign unless some
specific event causes the
team to abandon it.
8) Hospital
Roll for encounters at -1 in white boxes, no
modifier in gray, +1 in black boxes.
 Four Against Mars - Play Sheet
Name: Level: Class: Insanity:
Clues: Life: Science Roll:
Attack Roll: Defense Roll: Stealth Roll:
Class Abilities:
Character Trait: Ready weapon:
Milestone:
Equipment:
Weapon Familiarities: Skills:

Name: Level: Class: Insanity:

Clues: Life: Science Roll:
Attack Roll: Defense Roll: Stealth Roll:
Class Abilities:
Character Trait: Ready weapon:
Milestone:
Equipment:
Weapon Familiarities: Skills:

Name: Level: Class: Insanity:

Clues: Life: Science Roll:
Attack Roll: Defense Roll: Stealth Roll:
Class Abilities:
Character Trait: Ready Weapon:
Milestone:
Equipment:
Weapon Familiarities: Skills:

Name: Level: Class: Insanity:

Clues: Life: Science Roll:
Attack Roll: Defense Roll: Stealth Roll:
Class Abilities:
Character Trait: Ready Weapon:
Milestone:
Equipment:
Weapon Familiarities: Skills:

Permission granted to reproduce this form for personal use

 Enemies Defeated

� NOTES

� MINIONS - 1 XP ROLL EVERY 10 ENCOUNTERS (NOT EVERY 10 MINIONS)

� BOSS ENEMIES - 1 XP ROLL EACH

� WEIRD MENACES AND ATOMIC MONSTERS - 2 XP ROLLS EACH

Permission granted to reproduce this form for personal use

 Four Against Mars
Quick Reference Sheet
Combat Specialist: Familiarity with any weapon. Adds +L to Attack rolls.
Survivalist: Adds +L to Attack rolls with melee weapons only and saves vs. disease, poison and dangers
from the Traps table.
Criminal: +L to Defense and Stealth rolls. +L to Attack rolls if ambushing enemy.
Medic: heals 1 Life to all characters at the end of any encounter or event in which any character was
hurt. Adds +L when rolling to cure disease.
Scientist: adds +L to Science rolls. May build experimental weapons that add +L vs. weird menaces
(only when used by Scientists).
Civilian: begins with 3 Skills and 2 random Traits.
Esper: begins with 1 Psionic Skill, may learn additional ones with XP rolls. Adds +L to psionic rolls.

Level Die Rolled Explodes on XP roll

0 d4 no explosion NA
1-5 d6 6 no modifier
6-9 d8 7+ +1
10-13 d10 8+ +2
14+ d12 9+ +3
Attacking Minor Foes: (roll character’s die + modifiers) / enemy L= number of minor foes slain. 1 is
always a miss. An explosion is always a hit.
Common attack modifiers: -1 if using unfamiliar weapon, -2 if unarmed.
Attacking Major Foe: Roll character’s die + modifiers= inflict 1 wound if result is equal or better than
foe’s level. 1 is always a miss. Explosion is always a hit. When a major enemy loses more than half of
its Life points, its L drops by one, and it must make a Morale roll.
Defense procedure: Roll character’s die, +1 for light armor, +2 for alien armor, +1 with Dodge Skill.
Criminals add +L. If result is better than enemy’s L, take no damage. A roll of 1 is always a failure, an
explosion is always a success. On a failure, take damage and effects as per the enemy’s description.
Reactions: PCs may attack first (unless enemy surprises you) OR wait to see what the enemies will
do (roll on the enemy’s Reaction table in this case).
Encounter procedure: 1) check if foes surprise you; 2) decide if PCs attempt Stealth roll; 3) stealthy
PCs may skulk away from encounter or ambush (+1 on first attack, +L if Criminal); 4) decide if PCs
attack first or wait for reactions; 5) roll reactions if needed; 6) roll Morale for foes if needed.
Morale procedure: When minor foes lose more than half their number or a foe with multiple Life
points loses more than half its Life, roll d6: 1-3 flee, 4-6 fight. Roll at -1 if one or more PCs have the
Terror Tactics Skill. PCs fleeing: no roll needed, you decide if and when PCs flee.
Charisma roll: Choose one PC to roll vs. the difficulty Level stated. +1 if PC has Charisma or Performer
(all bonuses are cumulative). Charisma rolls may be attempted only when allowed by the encounter
or event description. On a success, gain favorable Reaction as described in the encounter.
Insanity: A PC with more Insanity points than L may not Explode dice.
Death: A PC with Life=0 or lower dies.

101
 is an atomic-age, science-fiction, pen-and-paper
game. Using the popular system, you will play
solo or coop missions against alien invaders in a small town. Battle
Martians, Venusians, Reptilians, Zeta-Reticulans and their monsters.
Available characters include scientists, survivalists, combat specialists,
criminals, espers, medics, and civilians. You just need pencil, paper,
polyhedral dice, and plenty of imagination.
This is a complete, stand-alone game. No other books are required.